Nazetaro's Room
Full coverage of SUMITA
How to Make Aspheric Lenses
Optical Design
We design optical systems to meet customer’s specifications from selecting glass materials to design of lens and lens units.
Precision die and preforms
We manufacture molding dies made of special alloys and ceramics which withstand high temperatures. Ultraprecision technical expertise is required to grind surfaces of metal dies to implement optical designs in a nano-order. Then, we prepare polished near-net shape preforms for precision molding.
Pressing
After setting preforms on a molding die, we press the preforms while heating at 300 to 700 degree Celsius until the preforms get soften. Then, anneal the pressed preforms, and aspheric shaped glasses are taken out of the molding die.
Coating
Lenses are coated upon request (e.g. anti-reflect coating).
Inspection
Lenses are inspected with the following measurement instruments.
| Instruments | Made by | Models | Number | Measurement contents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3-D Profilometer | Panasonic | UA3P-4 | 1 | Surface form of aspheric lens |
| Panasonic | UA3P-300 | 1 | Surface form of aspheric lens | |
| Panasonic | UA3P-400T | 1 | Surface form of aspheric lens | |
| Laser Interferometer | FUJIFILM | F601 | 2 | Form measurement of spherical lenses |
| FUJIFILM | FI251N | 1 | Form measurement of small spherical lenses | |
| Optical centration measurement and alignment instrument | Trioptics | OptiCentric 3D | 2 | Centration, center thickness and air gap of optical systems |
| Trioptics | OptiCentric MOT | 1 | Centration, center thickness and air gap of optical systems | |
| 3D Laser scanning microscope | Keyence | VK-X200 | 1 | Non-contact dimensional measurement |
| Measuring microscope | Mitutoyo | MF | 1 | Dimensional measurement |
| Keyence | IM-6700-6225 | 1 | Dimensional measurement | |
| Spectrophotometer | Jasco | V-700 | 1 | Transmittance |
| MTF Test station | Trioptics | Image Master HR | 1 | MTF, relative illumination, chief ray angle, distortion |
| Instruments | Made by | Models | Number | Measurement contents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3-D Profilometer | Panasonic | UA3P-4 | 1 | Surface form of aspheric lens |
| Panasonic | UA3P-300 | 1 | Surface form of aspheric lens | |
| Panasonic | UA3P-400T | 1 | Surface form of aspheric lens | |
| Laser Interferometer | FUJIFILM | F601 | 2 | Form measurement of spherical lenses |
| FUJIFILM | FI251N | 1 | Form measurement of small spherical lenses | |
| Optical centration measurement and alignment instrument | Trioptics | OptiCentric 3D | 2 | Centration, center thickness and air gap of optical systems |
| Trioptics | OptiCentric MOT | 1 | Centration, center thickness and air gap of optical systems | |
| 3D Laser scanning microscope | Keyence | VK-X200 | 1 | Non-contact dimensional measurement |
| Measuring microscope | Mitutoyo | MF | 1 | Dimensional measurement |
| Keyence | IM-6700-6225 | 1 | Dimensional measurement | |
| Spectrophotometer | Jasco | V-700 | 1 | Transmittance |
| MTF Test station | Trioptics | Image Master HR | 1 | MTF, relative illumination, chief ray angle, distortion |