High Volume Scalability (Wafer-level Optics):
See Wafer Level Manufacturing Page
For many of the reasons detailed above, many customers that require high volume components have designed their products to make use of the extensive worldwide wafer-level infrastructure that exists. This is accomplished by designing a master that includes hundreds or thousands of individual dies, that once replicated, can be singulated (typically diced) into their individual component size. Common standard wafer sizes include 100mm, 150mm and 200mm diameters, but the replication process also allows for custom sized plates or wafers that can be larger than 500mm round or square. Wafer-level manufacturing is an exceptionally cost effective way to reduce the recurring costs of these components to levels that are similar to injected molded optics. After the MLA array is replicated onto the glass wafer, the wafer is typically shipped to system integrators, where the MLA wafer is paired with several other wafers, or stacks of wafers to create complex sensor or emitter systems.