2011 Spring Topical Meeting on Structured and Freeform Surfaces Announced

By DE Editors

Structured and freeform surfaces have numerous applications ranging from optics to automotive, from aerospace to biomedical and from micro-fluidics to power generation. The key feature that determines a structured or a freeform surface is that its topography is not just an artifact of the process used to generate the surface, i.e. it has been engineered for a specific function. Thus, for a structured surface, typical parameters such as Ra do not adequately characterize its properties. A freeform surface can have a topography that significantly departs from a standard geometric element and thus conventional metrology methods tend not to be adequate.

For these reasons, such surfaces are a challenge to manufacture and a challenge to measure. However, their function is by definition affected by their geometrical characteristics. Examples include:

• Antireflective or polarization sensitive structures on optics
• Structures to enhance bone in-growth for orthopedic implants
• Freeform surfaces that allow novel optical function and/or multiscale optics
• Surfaces to control the tribological characteristics of mating components
• Micro-lens arrays for computational imaging and photo-voltaics
• Prismatic polymer coatings to enhance reflectivity and light management
• Nanostructured surfaces for anti-reflection coatings, waveguides and color control
• Microfluidic surfaces for flow control, mixing, lab-on-a-chip and biological filtering

The 2011 Spring Topical Meeting on Structured and Freeform Surfaces is intended to promote a broader understanding of the principles and techniques applicable for structured and freeform surfaces, to highlight the challenges and achievements in the field, to bring together specialists and practitioners from industry, government, and academia, and to identify topics for further research. The conference schedule will include two half-day tutorials, technical presentations by industry and academic experts, laboratory tours, and unstructured time to allow for networking and social interactions.

For more information please visit the 2011 Spring Topical Meeting on Structured and Freeform Surfaces site.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company's website.