History

asphericon GmbH has a long and interesting history. Go on reading the following to learn about our most important historic milestones: Starting with the first research work (from 1995), the founding of the company (2001) and relocation to the optics city of Jena (2005) through to the new company site (2011) and the expansion of manufacturing capacities (2012-2015) for the market launch of new technologies and the manufacturing of innovative products.

2016

• leading participation in the publication of DIN ISO 10110-19 (Characterisation of feeform optics)
• 15th company anniversary
• participation in the “Day of Photonics”
• introduction of high-precision mounted aspheres and axicons
• asphericon offers employment to 150 people by the end of the year

2015

• Expansion of production and measuring capacities
• Investment in new ultrasonic cleaning unit
• asphericon presents live experiment at Highlights of Physics
• Electric cars and charge stations added to the asphericon fleet
• Introduction of the SPA^TM Beam Expander 355nm

2014

• Recertification DIN EN ISO 9001:2008
• DIN Innovationspreis 2014
• Implementation of asphericon Ångström polish
• Expansion of capacities in High-End Finishing
• Development of a new production process for CaF2 aspheres
• Involvement in the research project ‘Freeform Optics Plus (fo+)’

2013

• New distribution partnership for Japanese market
• Presentation of the world’s first monolithic beam expander
• Diamond-turning technology enables IR-based asphere production
• asphericon introduces ultra-precise machine technology to process plastic aspheres
• Foundation of asphericon Inc. – a milestone in serving the North American market

2012

• Start of the expansion to double the production capacity
• Extension of our SPA^TM product range with the new UV asphere A25-25 FPX
• asphericon ION Finish^TM technology now enables precision of λ/600 RMS for plane surfaces
• Grows to 70 employees by the end of the year

2011

• asphericon is celebrating its anniversary – 10 years of ‘making the difference in optics’
• New company headquarter with about 5.000 sqm
• Technological innovation “asphericon ION-Finish” wins Industry Award 2011 in the category “Optical Technology”
• asphericon donates two Germany-scholarships for the University of Applied Sciences in Jena
• Grows to 50 employees by the end of the year

2010

• Launch of asphericon’s ION-Finish, an ion-based processing of complex surfaces
• Offering coating services
• asphericon welcomes the new sales representative Mr. Masanori Okawa for Japan
• asphericon receives the IQ-Innovation Prize of the City of Jena
• Start of the new optical design department

2009

• Recertification ISO EN 9001:2000
• Introduction of the new line asphericon SPA™ UV-grade fused silica
• Precision aspheres now available starting with 1 mm Diameter
• Extended partnership with Thorlabs
• Finishing a large investment programm (machinery, measuring instruments)
• Grows to 35 employees by the end of the year

2008

• ISO EN 9001:2000 certified
• Development and marketability of asphericon SPA^TM Acylinders
• asphericon successfully finished its investments
• 35% growth in sales
• 5 years production of aspheres
• First trainee adopted, three trainees in apprenticeship
• Over 250 customers worldwide
• Grows to 33 employees by the end of the year

2007

• Webshop for off-the-shelf-optics asphericon SPA^TM aspheres and axicons
• asphericon SPA^TM available in diffraction limited designs and for increased focal length
• Opening of a branch in Pretoria/South Africa with the company Saetra Ltd. and in Israel with the company OR-YAM Optronics Ltd.
• More than 180 customers worldwide
• Grows to 30 employees by the end of the year

2006

• First participation at Photonex in Coventry/UK
• First manufacturing of aspheric cylinders
• Purchase of an ultrasonic cleaning system with 10 cleaning tanks
• More than 12.000 produced aspheres
• More than 90 customers worldwide
• Grows to 24 employees by the end of the year

2005

• First participation at Photonics West in San Jose/California and at Laser in Munich
• First manufacturing of Off-Axis-Mirrors and axicons
• Relocation of the production facility to a larger site in Jena
• Purchase of new, state-of-the-art measurement tools
• First apprentice for precision optics
• Opening of a branch in Orlando/Florida with the company AgilTek
• More than 60 customers worldwide
• Grows to 18 employees by the end of the year

2004

• First free form suitable manufacturing of aspheres with a precision below 25nm RMS
• Expansion of production capacity in Erfurt
• First participation in a foreign exhibition (Paris)
• First manufacturing of parabolic reflectors
• First major order for the production of 14.000 precision aspheres
• Grows to 11 employees by the end of the year

2003

• IGB in Magdeburg partly finances asphericon
• Participation in BMWI’s Futour program
• Building a aspheres production facility in the TMZ Erfurt
• First manufacturing of aspheric lenses with aspheric profiles on both sides
• Manufacturing of aspheres made of titanium and silicon
• Manufacturing of the first aspheres made of germanium and quartz
• Grows to 6 employees by the end of the year

2002

• Lambda technology GmbH changed its corporate name to asphericon GmbH
• Award winner at the Start-Up-Company competition Hesse-Thuringia in 2002 and participation in 10 best nationwide Start-Up-Companies
• First participation in the OptaTec in Frankfurt
• Award winner of the Thuringian Innovation Award in 2002
• Member of the association OptoNet e.V.
• Grows to 5 employees by the end of the year

1995 - 2001

• Research paper by Sven Kiontke explaining the “Process for handling of rotationally symmetric functional surfaces”
• First patent application “Process for handling of rotationally symmetric functional surfaces”
• Thesis by Sven Kiontke on the conditioning of aspheres
• Formation of the lambda technology GmbH on May 17th 2001 in Jena with two employees
• Won the 1st, the 2nd and a special award at the Thuringian Business plan competition