HRDT

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High Refraction Diamond Turning (HRDT) for NIR Applications

Until now, polymers for high index, heat-resistant, NIR optics could only be molded; prototypes required 8–12 weeks minimum, and mold costs raised production break-even points.

Using advanced optical plastics like Ultem™, HRDT can reliably achieve a surface as smooth as 60 Angstroms, with even smoother surfaces theoretically possible. HRDT, a patented process from Syntec Optics, enables direct diamond turning, lowering costs by 2 to 5X:

Suits spherical, aspherical, toroidal, cylindrical, cone, and Plano shapes
Works for lens surfaces with multiple diffractive structures
Supports polyetherimide and polyethersulfone thermoplastic resins

		POLYMER
Time/cost	Glass	Molded	SPDT	HRDT
Fast development	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Prod. start-up costs	No	Yes	No	No
Vol. prod. cost adv.	No	Yes	No	No
Spectrum
Visible	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
NIR	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
MWIR/LWIR	Yes	Not Yet*	Not Yet*	Not Yet*
		* Hybrid solutions are possible

Discover our patented technology High Refraction Diamond Turning, at SyntecOptics.com. We can assist with your project, from machining Visible Spectrum Optics to NIR Spectrum Optics.