Jenoptik, Microcosm Link for MEMS Manufacturing
With Jenoptik contributing its expertise in polymer optics, the companies will offer a single interface for designing and manufacturing MEMS polymer components designed for the telecommunications, biotechnology, and micro-optics markets. Microcosm will provide the customer interface; device and system design, modeling, and simulation tools; and professional engineering services. Jenoptik will provide a fully-integrated manufacturing flow that includes tool fabrication, prototyping, packaging, test, quality assurance, and volume production.
"This partnership gives customers access to Microcosm's MEMS software and professional services to assist them in design, virtual prototyping, and transfer to our fab, where we are able to produce prototypes and rapidly scale to volume production," said Holger Becker, executive vice president of Jenoptik.
Jenoptik molds three-dimensional structures into a polymer substrate. Of special importance is their fully-automated pilot line now under construction. Based on relatively low materials costs and easy manufacturing, polymers offer advantages for high-volume fabrication of microcomponents such as miniaturized total analysis systems, disposable devices, microlenses, and optical switches. The company's hot embossing with a small thermal cycle results in low internal stress and high structural replication accuracy. This method is particularly suited to optical devices including arrays of prisms or lenses, Fresnel optics, diffractive and refractive elements, wave guide structures, couplers and splitters, ferrules, spectrometers, and combinations of components used to form complex optical systems.
Edited by Kristin Lewotsky, Photonics Online