SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT AR & VRy
Inkron invests in AR components development infrastucture
I
nkron, a Nagase Group Company, has made a strategic investment in Nano-Imprint Lithography (NIL) materials and components development infrastructure. The investment will signifi cantly accelerate Inkron’s development of high-performance optical materials needed in critical components of augmented reality (AR) glasses, 3D sensors and other diff ractive optical elements (DOE). Also, with the investment, Inkron will be able to provide component prototyping and small series manufacturing services for its customers.
New equipment
The cornerstone of the investment is the installation of an EVG 7200 automated UV NIL system from EV Group (EVG). The system leverages EVG’s innovative SmartNIL technology and materials expertise to enable mass manufacturing of micro- and nano-scale structures with high quality. It provides low-force and conformal imprinting, fast high-power exposure and smooth stamp detachment with unmatched throughput and low cost of ownership. “Through our NIL Photonics Competence Center, EV Group partners
Nano-Imprint Lithography materials are suitable for AR and VR applications
with companies like Inkron from across the photonics supply chain to leverage our NIL technology and expertise to accelerate the development of new devices and applications,” said Markus Wimplinger, corporate technology development & IP director at EV Group. “Working with Inkron gives us the opportunity to support their eff orts in developing advanced optical resists that are critical to manufacturing next-generation optical devices.”
The EVG 7200 system with SmartNIL technology is ideally suited for volume production of next-generation photonic devices, including waveguides and DOEs, for applications such as AR and virtual reality (VR). In addition to these features, the tool that has been shipped to Inkron includes a high-intensity UV station, heated chuck and support for soft-UV-NIL for microlens molding applications.
NIL materials Inkron off ers NIL processable materials in a broad index of refraction (RI) range to 2.0. The NIL materials are complemented with overcoat, gap fi ll and planarising coatings with RI as low as 1.1. The combination of these material platforms and the EVG 7200 system provide an ideal infrastructure for novel optical component development with accelerated turnaround time while enabling careful optimisation of
30 November 2020 | Automation
Inkron gears up for volume production of next- generation photonic devices, including waveguides and DOEs, for applications such as AR and VR
resins and processes for specifi c devices. “We are excited to accelerate the development of our new, optimised and innovative optical resin technologies. The new EVG 7200 system plays a vital role in this strategic move. These new capabilities will help us to address the critical performance roadmaps of our customers and will help them to succeed,” said Inkron VP of Operations, Jukka Perento. “Our nano-imprintable high- refractive index materials and matching gap fi lling coatings, combined with EVG’s NIL system, provide the critical wafer-level solutions that optics manufacturers need in order to quickly scale up the production of their latest developments.” In addition to the NIL equipment,
Inkron has made a signifi cant investment in optical structures manufacturing and testing equipment, including device performance and reliability testing. A dedicated team has been established to support the Inkron NIL ecosystem with material scientists, lithography process engineers and photonics experts.
CONTACT:
Inkron
www.Inkron.com
automationmagazine.co.uk
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