Process for the manufacture of custom optical elements

A process for the manufacture of a custom freeform high power laser diode optical element, comprising the steps of:

• a) creating a set of optical element design guidelines and a file format for a custom freeform optical element, storing said guidelines and said file format on a processor, and providing said guidelines and said file format over a web-interface to a customer;
• b) inputting said customer's desired optical element design and transmitting said customer's inputted desired optical element design in the file format, via the web-interface, from said customer to a vendor;
• c) applying, by a computer of said vendor, a computerized checking routine to compare said desired optical element design with said optical element design guidelines to determine if said desired optical element design meets said optical design guidelines and an applicable set of manufacturing limitations;
• d) employing, by a processor, parameterized modelling to alter the desired optical element design to the extent required to provide a conforming optical element design which meets said optical element design guidelines and said applicable set of manufacturing limitations;
• e) transmitting and displaying said conforming optical element design over the web-interface, to said customer;
• f) receiving an order from said customer over the web-interface for the custom freeform optical element, in the conforming optical element design;
• and
• g) manufacturing the custom freeform high power laser diode optical element in fused silica to the conforming optical element design and without the manufacture of a trial optical element, by the steps of:
• mounting a fused silica substrate on a computer controlled XY stage;
• using a computer controlled focussing lens on a z stage to focus a laser beam onto the substrate a required depth to ablate the substrate;
• moving, via said computer of said vendor, the stages in a raster configuration to provide controlled ablation, by shot-by-shot laser writing, of the fused silica substrate;
• wherein said required depth is determined from the file format of the conforming optical element design which contains a grid of data whose values represent the depth of ablation of the surface of a substrate to provide the conforming optical element design.