The Institut für Nanophotonik Göttingen e.V. (IFNANO) has launched the project LabaKom – Laser-Based Stress Compensation in Glass Substrates for Thin-Film Technology. The kickoff meeting with representatives from the project’s advisory committee took place on November 19, 2024, at IFNANO.
The project addresses an increasingly critical issue in optical manufacturing and thin-film technology: After coating, layers are often subjected to mechanical stress, which can lead to substrate deformation. Conventional methods frequently fall short of providing adequate correction solutions. The goal of the project is to develop a cost-effective process for the long-term stable compensation of tensile and compressive stresses in glass substrates, enabling large-area, rapid correction of even complex deformations. This involves introducing stresses into the substrate’s backside through targeted laser irradiation and optimizing the resulting figure correction both experimentally and numerically.
The research project is funded as part of the Industrial Collective Research (IGF) program by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) and supported by the Research Association for Precision Mechanics, Optics, and Medical Technology e.V. (F.O.M.).
