They filter out one polarization state, and let another through.

Inorganic materials (aluminum Nanowires^® on glass, fused silica, or silicon substrates).

Silicon, fused silica, and display grade glass. Others possible upon request.

Yes. We do many non-standard coatings. Lead times may be longer to meet unique requirements.

Our inorganic products are designed for high temperature and high flux conditions similar to what is needed for light engines in projectors and laser systems.

We use 200mm diameter wafers with a 180mm diameter active area. We can cut polarizers from a 180mm diameter circle.

PBS02A uses 0.7mm display grade glass, such as Eagle XG. PBF02A uses Borofloat ^TM 1.6mm thick. Borofloat creates a flatter product because it's a polished wafer on a thicker substrate.

7x7mm is the smallest size a PBF/PBS/PPL can be cut, with a tolerance of +/-0.2mm for both the X and Y directions. 4x4mm is the smallest that can be cut, but there is no allowance for edge exclusion.

Yes.

PBS02A and PBF02A are both optimized for AOI=45 degree, and PPL is optimized for AOI close to 0 degree. As small as 4x4mm can be cut with some modification of the clear aperture and edge exclusion requirements.

The latest instructions about how to use the Moxtek/Ansys PDK are available online: Moxtek /Ansys Meta-optic PDK. Ansys and Moxtek have also published useful articles on SPIE about the Design and Fabrication of a Metalens for Eye tracking: "Demonstration of unified metalens workflow through design and manufacture of example eye-tracking meta-optic" (March 2025) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3043570. "Novel workflow for metalens optical system design, simulation, and manufacture” (March 2025) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3040737. "Ray-tracing method for large-scale metalenses in multiwavelength imaging system" (March 2025) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3040478. Ansys also provides online examples at optics.ansys.com such as Eye tracking optical system with a metalens – Ansys Optics.

Yes, depending on the structure dimension and master size. The master needs to be 150mm or larger. A 150mm master will have some usable area in the center. Masters smaller than 150mm have a low probability of success. Structure dimensions need to be evaluated for PDMS stamp stability, or give Moxtek the GDS file of your design and we will make the master to ensure it works well in the process.

Our AutoSCIL tool takes specific stamps, and even if a customer can make a stamp to the proper specifications, to reduce defects it is far better if Moxtek makes the stamps in-house.

65 nm cylindrical pillars with 65 nm gap and ~1 micron height (~15:1 aspect ratio) have been built, though min CD’s of ≥70 nm and maximum aspect ratios of ≤14:1 are recommended. For line/space patterns, min CD’s of 25nm with a pitch of 50nm have been printed and etched. For such challenging line/space patterns, the preferred aspect ratios are ≤6:1. For line/space patterns with min CD’s of ~35nm and a pitch of 120nm, aspect ratios exceeding 8:1 are possible, even when using aluminum for wire grid polarizer applications.

200mm (~8 inch) diameter wafers composed of glass, fused silica, or silicon substrates.

Like other forms of diffractive optics, metalenses are highly chromatic and achieving broadband operation is at the cutting edge of research. Designing metalenses for broadband applications typically requires novel or custom design approaches, and often exhibit design restrictions and/or performance trade-offs. Here are some key references outlining challenges and approaches: A broadband achromatic metalens for focusing and imaging in the visible | Nature Nanotechnology, Neural nano-optics for high-quality thin lens imaging | Nature Communications, Broadband thermal imaging using meta-optics | Nature Communications and Focusing on bandwidth: achromatic metalens limits.

When using prototype-scale mastering, sample lead time is typically 12-24 weeks, depending on requirements and project complexity. Production-scale masters typically delay the project by ~4 months.

Yes, the Lumerical RCWA simulations are performed under a range of incident angles. In Zemax, when a ray hits the metalens object surface, RCWA results corresponding to the ray’s incident angle are used in the calculation of the ray deflection angle.

Full size production-scale Masters generally take 4 to 5.5 months to produce, depending on Master layout complexity and min CD’s. Prototype Masters, with smaller total patterned area, typically take 3-8 weeks to fabricate and validate once the designs are finalized (e.g. 1-2 weeks to finalize the layout, 1-3 weeks for fabrication, and 1-3 weeks to verify Master dimensions and/or build stamps and test imprints).

For visible to SWIR wavelengths, the largest metalens “clear aperture” size is about 25 mm diameter, though the isolated patterning field can be as large as 26 x 33 mm. This is a limitation of the mastering process. Note: For large-area meta-optics like this, it is usually more cost effective to use a production-scale mastering approach, though this increases the lead time (vs. a prototype-scale master). Even larger meta-optic clear aperture sizes could be stitched together on a production-scale master, though that adds significant mastering cost. The NIL replication process uses a wafer-scale stamp, so the entire wafer is printed in one step, allowing for high volume manufacturing at reduced unit cost. Note: The sample cost in high volumes scales with area, based on the number of samples that can fit on a 200 mm diameter wafer and also depends on the specific optical, mechanical, or defect requirements. For MWIR and LWIR meta-optics, mastering approaches that do not rely on e-beam lithography are possible in theory, depending on the minimum feature sizes, so in principle the clear aperture could extend towards the 200 mm diameter limit of the wafers for these longer wavelengths. Note: Defects scale with patterned area, so defect requirements become more important to manufacturability and more impactful on pricing when metalens clear apertures are large, or when larger part sizes contain significant total nanostructured area.

Ansys: If your support is provided by Ansys directly, Technical Support from local optics and photonics engineers can be accessed quickly and efficiently from the Ansys Customer Support Space. Technical Support for academic customers is provided through the Ansys Learning Forum, part of Ansys Innovation Space (AIS). Moxtek: Customer Service is available at Contact Us | Moxtek.

The next Ansys software release (2026 r1.1) in Q2 of 2026 will support polarization-sensitive meta-structures. Moxtek has also shown some capability in fabricating polarization-sensitive meta-structures with 70 nm minimum CD’s and up to 1200 nm meta-atom height.

Each meta-atom library corresponds to a specific operating wavelength and meta-atom material. Currently the available target wavelengths are 633 nm (red), 532 nm (green), and 455 nm (blue), and the meta-atoms are composed of Nb2O5 pillars, with plans to support additional PDK wavelengths and materials in the future. For the latest capabilities, please see the Moxtek Metalens Foundry or the Ansys/Moxtek Foundry Partnership websites.

For the latest Moxtek/Ansys PDK’s check the “PDK | Meta-atom Library” section under Moxtek Resources at the following link: Metalens Foundry Service | Moxtek. Additional information and links are available towards the bottom of the Metalens Foundry Service page.

Ansys Lumerical FDTD is a full‑wave electromagnetic simulation tool that uses the Finite‑Difference Time‑Domain method to model light–matter interactions at the nanoscale, making it ideal for designing and characterizing metalens meta‑atoms. Ansys Zemax OpticStudio is an optical design and analysis software that simulates how optical imaging components such as metalenses perform within complete optical systems, including imaging quality and aberrations.

Yes, designs have been made and characterized using the meta-atom libraries released in the Meta-optic PDK’s. Measured performance is highly dependent on the details of the specific metalens and metrology tool designs. The measurements tend to more closely match the modeling as the metrology method converges towards the modeling approach.

Yes, a provided custom DLL supports non-symmetric target phase profiles. More information is provided in the PDK workflow document.

Yes. Users can perform full‑wave electromagnetic validation of complete metalens designs in Ansys Lumerical FDTD, enabling rigorous verification of phase, efficiency, and field distribution using the meta‑atom library. Ansys Lumerical FDTD can achieve complete metalens simulation thanks to multi-node multi-GPU acceleration. The largest FDTD metalens simulation was 16 nodes of 4xL40 GPUs for a 700um^2 square metalens (70 billion cells).

Moxtek is a U.S. company based in Utah that has been manufacturing optical nanostructures for more than 25 years. Moxtek offers a full solution including nanostructure and meta-optic design, prototyping and development projects, and high volume manufacturing, with a capacity of over 100,000 wafers per year.

The difference is the size and number of the defects allowed on the finished part. Defect size ranges from 1mm for optical grade 4 and 150 microns for visual criteria grade 0.

Where relevant, each product web page contains a downloadable datasheet with that information.

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We ship our polarizers in a clamshell container that protects against damage during the shipment process.

Each product web page contains detailed warranty information.

Our standard products are about 170nm thick.

Substrate selection can contribute to the final price. The thick flat substrate is usually more costly than the 0.7mm substrate due to higher manufacturing costs.

S-polarized light should have a wave oscillation parallel to the nanowires.

Moderate light levels mean the light level that will maintain the flatness of the PBF and will not cause a distortion in the image because of thermal expansion. We've never had a problem with any applications that include thermal expansion induced distortion. We can take the heat.

Yes. We specialize in encapsulation services, please contact us for more details.

On the right-hand side of each product web page is a "Request a Quote" button. Clicking it presents a form with the required details (e.g. contact information, etc.) we need to create a quote. In the comments field of that form, you can include a brief description and the required dates and specifications of your request. Once we receive your information, we’ll respond promptly.

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Orders are processed the day they are received. The lead time to receive your parts is typically 2-6 weeks. Custom order lead time is determined by the product type and availability at the time your order is received.

Yes, we do.

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You can request a quote from any one of our product pages.

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Lead times vary depending on the pieces required. You can request a quote from any one of our product pages.

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Never do we knowingly purchase conflict minerals. We purchase the following minerals from conflict free smelters: tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold. We require our suppliers to purchase these metals from conflict free smelters, as well.