Manufacturer of micro-optics set for further growth

Dr. Stefan Hambuecker (left) and Dr. Olaf Ruebenach, the managing directors of INGENERIC

On May 30, INGENERIC laid the foundation stone for their new company building in Baesweiler, Germany. The new building is the company“s response to the constantly increasing volume of orders from customers all over the world. The building, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2019, will provide space for all of the approx. 80 employees with reserves for further expansion.

INGENERIC has been based in the Technology Centre AGIT in Aachen since its foundation in 2001, and in 2015 they already outsourced some capacities to Baesweiler, about 20 km away. Growth over the years is such that the company now requires its own building. The move away from the Technologiezentrum is a logical step.

The new production hall in the immediate vicinity of a former colliery covers a gross area of around 2,700 m². The hall will provide around 800 m² of clean room space for the production and finishing of optical elements along with the assembly of optical modules and laser systems. There is also around 600 m² for air-conditioned processing space for ultra-precision manufacturing, where temperatures are partially controlled to within +/-0.5° C. The attached office building for development, sales and administration will offer more than 1,000 m² gross floor space.

With a good 10,000 m² of space, the site offers the potential for further expansion.

Dr. Olaf Ruebenach, co-founder and one of the two managing directors of INGENERIC, sees clear advantages at the Baesweiler site in the Aachen technology region: „The new building and its infrastructure exactly meet our requirements for the efficient production of ultra-precision optics. Not only will we have enough space for the current production volume, we can also continue to expand. Micro-optics is one of the major pace-setting technologies of the 21st century, and we expect significant growth rates.“

Planning and construction of the building are being carried out in cooperation with TRUMPF GmbH Co. KG which, as the parent company of INGENERIC, is also the builder-owner. The building should be ready for occupancy by the end of 2019.

About INGENERIC

Founded in 2001 in the university-city of Aachen, Germany, INGENERIC GmbH develops and manufactures high-precision micro-optic components for high-power applications, along with optical and laser systems including fiber couplers, homogenizers and collimation modules for science, medicine and measurement technology.

Today, INGENERIC is one of the few manufacturers in Europe to develop and manufacture glass micro-optics for beam shaping in semiconductor diode lasers according to the individual specifications of its international customers. The company handles the entire process chain from the lens design and the development of prototypes through to the small-batch production and serial manufacture.

INGENERIC also produces high-power laser systems. For the HiLASE or XFEL project, for example, INGENERIC supplied a number of high-energy lasers delivering 10 pulses per second with an energy of 250 Joules, an average power output of 2.5 kW, and an extremely homogeneous top-hat beam profile with an amplitude contrast of less than 7%.

Background: Precision in detail

One of several fields of application is the production of microlens arrays with structures typically in the sub-millimeter range; their dimensional accuracy is sub-micrometer at less than 250 nm. This makes it possible to produce arrays with high filling factors and to make the best possible use of the optically effective surface area: INGENERIC reliably implements transition zones of less than 10 μm. The benefit to the user: Optimal beam shaping and high-efficiency transmission and coupling.

High-precision molding maintains an offset between the upper and lower sides of the array of less than 5 μm. Pitch accuracy is also very high: INGENERIC reproduces the separation between the individual lens center points with an accuracy of better than 2 μm over a length of 25 mm, so there is no accumulation of errors across the width of the array.

For some micro-optics-particularly the two-sided structures-the exact adherence to the central thickness is vitally important, since they have a telescopic effect and the slightest deviations lead to aberrations. INGENERIC achieves accuracies close to +/-6 μm here.

Compared to conventional methods like quartz etching, INGENERIC achieves a relative radius tolerance better than 0.2 percent, which in serial production is precisely reproducible from wafer to wafer.

About TRUMPF

The high-technology company TRUMPF offers production solutions in the machine tool and laser sectors. It drives digital connectivity in manufacturing industries through consulting activities, platform and software offerings. TRUMPF is a technology and market leader in machine tools for flexible sheet metal processing and industrial lasers.

Company-Contact
INGENERIC GmbH
Christina Ferwer
Dennewartstraße 25-27
52068 Aachen, Germany
Phone: +49.241.963-3951
Fax: +49.241.963-1349
E-Mail: ferwer@ingeneric.com
Url: http://www.ingeneric.com

Press
VIP-Kommunikation
Regina Reinhardt
Dennewartstraße 25-27
52068 Aachen, Germany
Phone: +49.241.89468-24
Fax: +49.241.89468-44
E-Mail: reinhardt@vip-kommunikation.de
Url: http://www.vip-kommunikation.de