Economical Manufacturing of Optomechanical Components – a best practice guide

Referent: 

Dr. sc. ETHZ Bernhard Bringmann, BMK Bringmann Manufacturing Knowledge AG, CH-9424 Rheineck

Abstract:

Optomechanical components such as mirror or lens mounts, aligners or housings generally require single-digit micrometer accuracy in terms of i. e. true position, flatness, parallelism, cylindricity or squareness. As the number of such component increases, so does the need for economical manufacturing and consistent quality. This work briefly discusses the current state of the art of achievable tolerances of manufacturing methods commonly used in the industry today such as grinding, lapping, milling or turning and presents a best practice approach to keep cost at a minimum - depending on the design and material of a component. This guide starts with an ideal state for manufacturing, where all key features can be machined in a single setup, and discusses more complex design features and the cost of the processes that have to be added subsequently.