Design Authority
We are elite problem solvers from disparate backgrounds whose vision, aptitude, and native curiosity outweighs our academic credentials. We cross-pollinate ideas among differing industries and skill sets to achieve remarkable results. Our commitment to finding the right solutions for differentiated problems means that we are capable of doing what other engineers cannot. Some say we bend physics and solve the unsolvable. Can we? Maybe. What we know we can do is this: We ask questions and we dig, because sometimes the solutions people believe they need only scratch the surface. Our solutions live in the space between source and sensor. Our people work in the space between ideation and result, a position that grants us unrivaled design authority and fosters longterm intimacy with our customers. We achieve success by fostering a culture of evolution and learning and by embracing our role as industry underdogs. We have confidence that emerges from scrappy origins, when we demonstrated the ability to do crazy, world-class physics from the stuff cobbled together in a church basement. That confidence and can-do problem-solving spirit still elevates our work today. Sometimes we disarm customers with our commitment to identify and deliver what they actually need…even when that means knowing when to say no. Our goal is to play a collaborative role in your projects within the Life Sciences, Aerospace & Defense, Semiconductor, and Industrial markets.
Omega Optical’s design services are founded on years of technical experience. We were one of the first companies to embrace computer-aided thin-film design practices in the 1970s and have remained at the forefront. Many of our designers have also worked in the manufacturing department. This insight streamlines the design process, avoiding designs that are difficult to manufacture. It also allows us to quickly pick the right materials system and deposition process for your individual application and set of specifications. Involving us in the early stages of conception is important in order to maximize the design process and optimize the filters to your application.
We have the ability to coat a full range of materials, from metals and fluorides to hard oxides and semiconductors. A number of our coating systems employ physical vapor deposition (PVD with thermal sources or electron-beams) with or without ion assist (IAD) and substrate heating. Dual-magnetron sputtering for prototyping and plasma-assisted reactive magnetron sputtering capabilities (PARMS) are also available in our highest capacity coating chambers. Monitoring of the coating process is performed optically or with quartz-crystal monitors to ensure accuracy in our processes. The computer-controlled PARMS systems are also capable of realizing Rugate and co-sputtered designs. No single technology is ideal for every application. As a world-class manufacturer, Omega Optical knows the attributes and limitation of each and utilizes multiple technologies to achieve the best results for a given application.
Omega’s Optics shop is crucial to many steps in the manufacturing process. Raw (rough sawn) glass plates are ground and polished to the desired thickness with state-of-the-art flat optic surfacing capability; SPEEDFAM 16B-5 lapper and double-sided polisher. These machines have the ability to quickly process large quantities of optical glass with high precision. For small lots or specialty substrates, we have spindle, double planetary and high-speed polishers. Plates are checked for flatness with certified optical flats or the Davidson interferometer before proceeding to the coating steps.
After coating, the parts are either scribed and broken or cut to size with diamond-tooled machines including CNC drills, shapers, and saws, along with cylindrical grinders and Mildex surfacers for desired edge treatments. Our fully equipped machine shop produces custom filter rings, wheels, and holders as well as jigs used during the deposition process. Filter components are cleaned ultrasonically and assembled under laminar flow hoods. We also have laser and ink marking capabilities for the addition of part numbers or alignment marks on individual pieces. Our final assembly department is adept at fabricating assemblies from their individual components.
Engineering functions
- Optical Design
- Thin-Film
- Opto-mechanical
- Metrology
- Manufacturing
- Systems / Controls
- Electrical
Explore the Features
Capabilities
Learn more about the full suite of capabilities which are trusted by leading Global OEM’s and their Start-up challengers to deliver the right photons, to the right place, at the right time.
More about design and engineering
Concept
Developing a product design first starts with Curiosity. We utilize tools like 5-why analysis during the concept phase to understand key requirements and their drivers.
Risk Analysis
Bringing a concept to production quickly means we must anticipate what is likely to be a challenge and avoid such a speed bump. Our team uses tools such as pFMEA to understand and prioritize which preventive actions to take.
Prototyping
Building upon our Risk Analysis, we understand getting a product to market quickly and working as desired out of the box is critical for our partners, large and small. We reserve capacity for first article development and provide dedicated Program Management when appropriate to ensure we help our customers get the right photons, to the right place, at the right time.
Sustaining
Once a product is launched, the work is not over. Our Manufacturing Engineering team, while adhering to regulatory or commercial requirements (e.g. FDA or Copy Exact) , focus on continuous improvement as a means to improve lead time, total cost of ownership, and product production lifetime.
key supporting capabilities
Solution
Optical Coatings
Omega coating heritage dates back to 1936, and spans a wide range of technologies: Sunglasses to space-borne sun-visors; halogen light bulbs to COVID-fighting UV-C lamps, supermarket scanners to modern printers, astronomical mirrors to prestigious art installations to entertainment optics: if an application requires a precision or decorative coatings we surely have a proven solution.
Solution
Grating Manufacturing
We have the diffractive optics trifecta of multiple Ruling Engines, Holographic Mastering, and Lithographic exposure to create diffractive elements. Our in-house design and manufacturing processes provide standard or custom gratings for a range of applications, in both Original and Replicated formats.
Solution
Specialty Patterning & Cutting
We produce more than just circles and rectangular shaped components. Challenge us to produce a complex shape or pattern demanded by your application.
Solution
Metrology & Quality Assurance
We believe you cannot confidently make what you cannot measure, and therefore have invested in standard and custom metrology and inspection stations. Certified ISO 9001:2015. Lean manufacturing, including 6 Sigma methodologies and approaches to problem solving.
