Optics meet-up

In 2026 D.O.M. will open as a novel site to experience optics interactively. We will exhibit many historic objects to be used by the visitors. Each field is linked to the latest research and industrial use in optics and photonics. The iconic building will serve as a tourist attraction point for modern Thuringia. This talk will provide a first insight.

The idea of leaving your current job and starting your own business has crossed almost everyone's mind. But what do you do once you have decided to go into business for yourself? In this talk, Carolin Münzberg, co-founder of PPE GmbH, will take you through you the key steps in setting up your own business and share her personal experience.

25 years ago, Fraunhofer IOF started the very first project on EUV multilayer development. Torsten Feigl summarizes highlights of this exciting journey from the first still low reflecting multilayer coating made in 1998 to today’s 15 million € investment in optiX fab’s EUV optics fab.

Deformable Phase Plate (DPP) is the refractive counterpart of deformable mirrors capable of compensating high-order optical aberrations. Similar to a lens mounted in a conventional cage, DPP can be plugged-in to optical setups providing an easy-to-integrate Adaptive Optics solution.

Nanostructured optical materials have long been investigated for their potential to enable a new generation of imaging systems. However, despite decades of research in fields such as metamaterials, metalenses, and nanocomposites such materials have not yet been able to make the transition from research into commercial imaging products. In this talk, it will be discussed how nanocomposites can become suitable bulk optical materials for real-world imaging systems and it will be shown that nanocomposites enable the design of dispersion-engineering materials and could hence become one building block of next-generation imaging systems. Specifically, it will be discussed how such materials can enable “flat optics” that are suitable for broadband imaging systems.

Meta-structures are a novel class of optical devices that can manipulate light with unprecedented precision and control. However, the design and fabrication of meta-structures can be challenging, particularly for less parameter-sensitive lenses. This talk will provide a guide to the design of more robust meta-structures, including strategies in the optimization process for minimizing sensitivity to sources of error. Specific design considerations and techniques, as well as future directions for applicability in this rapidly evolving field will be discussed.

An overview of the upcoming release of our next generation optical design software. We will present our core software principles and show how they improve on existing design approaches. Hands-on Workshop Quadoa Optical CAD: Let's explore the software together. We will demonstrate Quadoa's features and perform some exemplary design tasks. Feel free to provide your own optical design challenges and see how well Quadoa is suited.

In this presentation Kseniia will share practical recommendations on how to make your system more manufacturing-friendly and increase the odds of it performing properly. All the tips come from personal design and troubleshooting experience in close cooperation with manufacturing unit.

Complexity is a free resource in 3D printing. We show different examples of how the geometrical design freedom can lead to micro-optical devices with superior optical performance while being manufacturable in a single process step.