The latest freeform optics products for 2026

In the past 10 years, freeform optics have helped to drive significant advancements in optical design and manufacturing, allowing for the creation of more compact, efficient, and higher-performing optical systems across a variety of applications.

What are freeform optics?

Freeform optics are optical shapes or surfaces designed with little to no symmetry constraints. This allows for the combination of several optical functions into a single component, which would usually require multiple elements. This makes them ideal for device miniaturisation, for example, in wearable tech, while remaining lightweight and compact. These optics are customised for each application, with surface structures optimised for the specific properties of the individual use case.

Applications of freeform optics

While used in non-imaging and illumination optics since the 1990s, the benefits of design freedom are now recognised across many sectors. In particular, freeform optics are essential in augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), automotive LiDAR, military optical systems, medical technologies, aerospace, and high-end consumer electronics.

How to manufacture freeform optics

The manufacture of a freeform optic is similar to that of a highly complex aspheric lens. Precision in surface generation is critical. Historically, design and processing difficulty limited their application, but modern techniques have revolutionised the market.

• Diamond turning: Still a primary method for processing polymers and metals.
• CNC grinding and polishing: Often used for glass substrates.
• Advanced finishing: Techniques like magnetorheological finishing (MRF) and ion beam figuring (IBF) are now frequently used to achieve sub-nanometer accuracy.
• 3D micro-printing: Emerging techniques now allow for the "printing" of micro-freeforms directly onto sensors.

Freeform optics product suppliers

Asphericon manufactures unconventional shapes in various materials, including lenses, mirrors, and monolithic elements up to 300mm. Its systems often use Alvarez lenses, where surface shape variation allows for adjustable optical functions.

Ansys provides the Zemax software suite (now part of the broader Synopsys/Ansys ecosystem following recent mergers), which remains a global standard for designing and tolerancing freeform surfaces.

Fresnel Technologies specialises in molded plastic optics, IR transmitting materials, and freeform surfaces, offering design help, tooling, and diamond machining.

Greenlight Optics provides advanced modeling and a full workflow for freeform lens manufacturing. Their capabilities include in-house optical/mechanical design, diamond turning, plastic molding, and specialised metrology.

Jenoptik produces non-rotationally symmetrical polymer optics using Slow Tool Servo technology. This modified diamond turning procedure allows for high-precision freeforms ranging from 1 to 350mm.

Keysight Technologies acquired the Optical Solutions Group in 2025. It now provides the industry-standard software tools CODE V, LightTools, and LucidShape, which offer advanced optimisation features specifically for imaging and non-imaging freeform designs.

Kong Optics specialises in volume fabrication of ultra-smooth aspheres and freeforms for performance-critical systems in astronomy, defense, and semiconductor equipment.

Lambda Research Corporation’s TracePro is a 3D solid modeling-based analysis program. It features a 3D optimiser built-in to help design out the complexity associated with freeform illumination applications.

LightPath Technologies produces high-volume, precision-molded freeform optics for visible and IR wavelengths (NIR, SWIR, MWIR, and LWIR). They utilise computer-generated holograms (CGH) and contact profilometry to ensure quality at scale.

LT Ultra manufactures freeform precision surfaces out of steel and other metals without polishing, using ultrasonic-assisted diamond turning. Their range includes mirrors (pyramidal, ellipsoidal, etc.) and specialised metal optics.

Millpond ApS is a Danish manufacturer specialising in custom mirrors and inserts for injection molding tools, providing tailor-made freeform metallic substrates via diamond turning and milling.

Optimax Systems is a leader in rapid prototyping and custom optics. They produce high-precision freeforms with a fast turnaround, catering specifically to the aerospace and research communities.

Pike Technologies offers customised optics including mirrors, lenses, and IR objectives. Their infrastructure features multiple diamond turning lathes and thin-film coating capabilities.

Shanghai Optics utilises CNC machine tools and single-point diamond turning alongside metrology options like surface profilers and interferometers to verify complex freeform components.

Spaceoptix focuses on high-performance metal optical systems for space and astronomy. Their portfolio includes the development and testing of customised metallic mirrors and freeform systems.

Spectrum Scientific (SSI) uses an optical replication process to manufacture high-volume reflective freeform optics and holographic diffraction gratings, allowing for high fidelity at a competitive cost.

Vertex Optics employs CNC optical grinding and five-axis sub-aperture polishing to produce cost-effective freeform surfaces in a variety of glass and ceramic materials.

Zygo remains the industry standard for metrology. Their laser interferometers and 3D optical profilers, and increasingly their deflectometry solutions, characterise critical surface parameters like form error and roughness.

This is not an exhaustive list. If you provide products and solutions for freeform optics and would like to be included, please let us know at editor.electro@europascience.com