Physics At Its Best

At DIOPTIC’s, I had been told, it’s mainly physicists who work there. On my way to Weinheim an der Bergstraße I try to picture whom and what to expect. Once there, you quickly forget what you ever thought you knew about physicists. Admittedly, there is a space telescope in the reception area of DIOPTIC’s but it is scaled-down to the human proportions of a Lego model. I receive a warm welcome. What DIOPTIC has in store for me is people with social competence and professionals with profile; clever and creative minds who don’t just theorize but know precisely what they have to do to effectively put innovations into operation.

Customer specific quality inspection systems and infrared lenses

One of these physicists is Jean-Michel Asfour, the head of DIOPTIC. In 1999, he founded DIOPTIC in Offenbach. Four years later, the company moved to Weinheim where they still have their home base. With a distinct business concept in mind and his eyes set on the growth potential of optical systems, Jean-Michel Asfour started out on his way around the turn of the millennium: “The digitization that is so frequently invoked nowadays had already begun at that time when analog photography was replaced by image sensors. It was at about the same time when a method for digitization supported by optics also found its way into medical diagnostics. Since then, new impulses for the optical industry have come along over and over again.” What sounds like sure-fire success in hindsight has not been a matter of course for a small medium-sized company such as DIOPTIC. It takes a lot more to play a significant role in molding such developments: Innovative power, perseverance and the strong determination to always go to the limits of technical feasibility.

Equipped with such qualities, DIOPTIC has become a staple – technically always on top and well positioned with regard to their staff which by now includes more than 25 specialists who “are so motivated that the concerns of the customers become their own”, as Jean-Michel Asfour puts it. The system solvers from Weinheim provide comprehensive consultancy and development services in all areas of optical metrology. In addition to that, DIOPTIC manufactures and distributes customer specific quality inspection systems and infrared lenses. DIOPTIC is market leader in diffractive optical elements for ultra-precision interferometer scratch/dig inspection.

Innovative wavefront metrology for key technologies

That their business is about path-breaking innovations is not just one of those marketing phrases that so many companies wear on their lapel far too casually. At DIOPTIC, they are a reality. The future – that’s for example Lidar (light detection and ranging) modules which play an integral role in the laser-based detection of the surroundings. For their production, DIOPTIC implements inspection systems and automated alignment processes with the best possible interaction between sensor technology and actuator systems. In concrete terms, this has lead to a new process technology for high-precision wavefront metrology for which the optics specialists from Weinheim developed a patented functional principle: so-called WAVOS sensors make it possible to measure the topography and the wavefront quality of high-performance laser mirrors or any other desired optics. DIOPTIC conducts this development project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in close cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences Mittelhessen (THM) and the Optics Center Wetzlar.

The project aims at establishing a new process technology for wavefront metrology as an alternative to interferometry – and with that putting the implementation of Lidar systems on a new level. “The Lidar technology is seen as one of the key technologies for autonomous driving,” Jean-Michel Asfour points out, “and with our innovative wavefront metrology, we might make a valuable contribution.” WAVOS cover has already demonstrated formidably that the system is not only a good concept in theory but is also convincing in application. It is now a matter of designing the system in such a way that it can be adapted to different requirements with regard to illumination wavelength, specimen geometry or automated test cycles.

When physics is not only wonderful in theory but results in a marketable product

Likewise, so-called computer-generated holograms (CGHs) which are used in various fields of application in precision optics are also pointing towards the future. The Multizone CGHs developed by DIOPTIC make it possible to angle the individual lenses of imaging optics relevant to each other with a precision that has been unmatched until now. Even the European Space Agency ESA relies on this expert knowledge, for example when it comes to adjusting the optical elements of the space telescope Euclid. Compared to that the optical module that DIOPTIC developed for a special head-mounted display seems like a small but no less innovative exercise piece. It is a head-mounted display for bicycle helmets which delivers all relevant information right in front of the eye. The USEE® Head-Up-Display by MOMES has been on the market since 2018.

“At DIOPTIC, I see every day anew that physics is not only wonderful in theory but that it is really great fun when it eventually results in a marketable product”, says Daniel Kiefhaber. He is DIOPTIC’s CTO and has been involved in the development of the inspection system ARGOS from the beginning – the first system of its kind which checks lenses and flat optics for surface imperfections in accordance with ISO 10110-7. The youngest generation, ARGOS matrix 200, is equipped with a high-resolution camera and a switchable dark field illumination. Images of various illumination configurations are merged to guarantee reliable error detection with a vast repetition accuracy. A 200 mm precision-positioning table facilitates the inspection of a great number of parts in one tray. The measured results of the objective and reproducible scratch/dig inspection are fully automatically documented in a detailed inspection report.

“With ARGOS matrix 200, we developed a universally applicable inspection system that can be used in many market segments”, Daniel Kiefhaber explains. ARGOS’ hardware and software platform is deliberately designed as an open system to allow for easy and efficient implementation of customer specific systems with adapted properties or particular classifications. ARGOS matrix 200 is ideal for inspecting optical components such as lenses, prisms, mirrors, or filter glasses. And even if optics production 4.0 is still in the early stages – the inspection system is already making a significant contribution to it.

Positive unpredictability: The secret of DIOPTIC’s success.

There is indeed no lack in extraordinary ideas for their own products or for projects conducted to customer’s order. “From us, customers get what they cannot buy ready-for-use, and we provide it custom-made and from a single source,” developer and quality manager Klemens Bardelang emphasizes. And for DIOPTIC’s highly skilled employees, it’s not a problem that they never know what new tasks may lie in wait for them in four weeks’ time. Quite the contrary: This is what makes their job all the more interesting. Klemens Bardelang calls it “positive unpredictability”.

Despite all the unpredictability, DIOPTIC has managed to grow organically and healthily for two decades. As is substantiated by the steady growth rate, the continuously increasing number of employees – and also by the specific plans for an extension of the location in Weinheim. There are many indications that this step will lead to the optics specialist DIOPTIC turning over the next leaf in their story of success. On behalf of industry and science. With clever and committed physicists who will carry on making everything possible. With innovative ideas and solutions which we don’t even know about today. That really sounds like an unpredictable future but in the positive sense!

www.dioptic.de

CHANCES AND BENEFITS

In 2017, Wetzlar Network was admitted into the funding measure “Internationalization of High-End Clusters” of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The funding measure is directed at facilitating international development cooperations for medium-sized companies in the region. The first projects started in July 2019. DIOPTIC GmbH is deeply involved in one of the R&D cooperation projects. In essence, this involves the development of a novel functional principle aimed at a new method for high-precision wavefront metrology as an alternative to interferometry. The company received significant funding for this. As part of the project, DIOPTIC has cooperated intensively with the Technical University of Central Hessen (THM) and with the Optics Center Wetzlar.