Results of workpackage 2 – Reliable Replication Technology for High Volume Production

The main objective of Work Package 2 is to develop and optimize a reliable high precision glass molding technology for high volume production of complex optical glass parts. The goal is to ensure high reliability, high efficiency and short development periods for new products. There are two main foci of investigation: One is the development of new moldable glass systems. For this it is required to determine relevant properties and to find a suitable material composition. The development of optimized process strategies, comprehensive process know-how and the influence of process parameters on the quality of the molded product is a second one.

• New glasses at specific optical positions in the Abbe diagram with very low transformation temperature Tg have been developed.
• Test procedures to evaluate the suitability for precise pressing and common cleaning processes for moldable glasses have been defined.
• Adapted protective coatings for the molding tools based on noble metals or nitrides have been verified to comply with the new glass.
• Molding strategies for different types of optical components have been evaluated and successfully transferred to representative demonstrator optics: Aspheric meniscus lenses as well as cylinder lens arrays were molded. Microstructures that work by diffraction of light instead of refraction and function as diffractive lenses could also be transferred into glass with high accuracies.
• The influence of process parameters on the accuracy of the molded components has been assessed.

In conjunction, these results enable an efficient and stable production method for high accuracy optical components made from glass. They accelerate the ramp-up of new geometries and facilitate the rapid deployment of this technology in Europe.