Requirement to optical budget
Translate application goals into measurable optical budgets: resolution, field, aperture, wavelength, throughput, and distortion.
Custom optical designPalo Alto, California
OPTICAL DESIGN / OPTOMECHANICAL / DESIGN TRANSFER
Custom optical design, from first concept to manufacturable hardware.
Palo Alto Optics provides custom optical design and optical engineering services for product teams that need a working optical system, not just a lens prescription. We take a requirement from concept through detailed design, tolerancing, optomechanical integration, prototyping, and transfer to manufacturing.
SYSTEM WORKFLOWPAO / 01
01Requirements
02Optical design
03Optomechanical
04Prototype
05Design transfer
Custom lens design, optical system design, and optical engineering consulting for startups and established product teams.
01Engineering reality
A lens prescription is not a product. The optical system has to close.
Nominal image quality in a design file is only the starting point. Tolerances, stray light, thermal behavior, packaging, assembly, alignment, cost, and manufacturability determine whether a custom optical design becomes hardware that ships.
Manufacturable, toleranced design
Optimize the design with real tolerances, sensitivity analysis, and Monte Carlo yield so it can be built at the target cost and volume.
System-level integration
Resolve optomechanics, coatings, stray light, thermal effects, alignment, and test before committing to fabrication.
02Engineering scope
One accountable optical workstream from concept to production.
PAO can start at architecture, take over a stalled design, or recover a system already in development, and hold the technical thread through verification.
Define a technical work packageOptical system design
Architecture, first-order layout, lens design and optimization in Zemax and CODE V, trade studies, and performance budgets.
Custom lens design
Refractive, reflective, catadioptric, aspheric, and freeform designs for imaging, illumination, and sensing systems.
Tolerancing and analysis
Sensitivity analysis, Monte Carlo yield, stray light, ghost, thermal, and structural-thermal-optical performance analysis.
Optomechanical design
Mounts, datums, athermalization, alignment strategy, and packaging engineered with the optics rather than after them.
Coatings and materials
Anti-reflection, filter, and mirror coatings, glass and polymer material selection, and environmental durability.
Prototyping and design transfer
Custom parts, assembly, alignment, metrology, acceptance criteria, and a clean handoff package to your manufacturing supplier.
03Technical envelope
Custom optical design across imaging, sensing, and display systems.
Representative capability is shown with the context needed to qualify it. Program requirements control the final architecture and acceptance values.
LiDAR and automotive sensing
Transmit and receive optics, HUD and projection systems, and detection-range optimization.
AR/VR and near-eye displays
Waveguide, pancake, and birdbath architectures, exit-pupil expansion, and near-eye trade studies.
Medical and biomedical imaging
Diagnostic and imaging optics engineered toward regulated device requirements.
Robotics and machine vision
Custom lenses, multi-spectral sensing, illumination, and calibration for automation and inspection.
REFERENCE ENVELOPE
Design softwareZemax OpticStudio / CODE VSequential and non-sequential design, tolerancing, and stray-light analysis
Spectral rangeUV, visible, NIR, SWIR, LWIRMaterial and coating selection by band
System typesImaging / illumination / sensingRefractive, reflective, catadioptric, aspheric, freeform
Engagement stageConcept to design transferEnter at any point in the development cycle
Capabilities indicate typical engagements, not fixed limits. Feasibility depends on requirements, wavelength, tolerances, environment, cost target, volume, and schedule. If requirements are incomplete, PAO can develop the specification first.
04What you receive
Engineering outputs your team can review, build, test, and maintain.
The exact package follows the program stage and scope. Assumptions, interfaces, decisions, and acceptance evidence remain visible.
Optical design package
Design files, prescription, layout, performance budgets, tolerances, and analysis results.
Tolerance and yield analysis
Sensitivity study, Monte Carlo yield, and as-built performance prediction.
Optomechanical concept
Mount, datum, athermalization, alignment, and packaging interfaces.
Coating and material specification
Spectral and environmental requirements, material selection, and witness criteria.
Prototype and test plan
Build strategy, metrology, acceptance criteria, and validation approach.
Manufacturing transfer package
Supplier-ready drawings, specifications, and data requirements for production.
05Controlled delivery
A local engineering interface from first review through release.
PAO leads the technical work, coordinates specialized fabrication and production resources under the project quality process, and keeps responsibility for requirements, interfaces, evidence, and issue closure clear.
- 01
Technical intake
Define the system boundary, decision to be made, current evidence, constraints, and confidentiality path.
- 02
Requirements and risk
Create measurable requirements, interface assumptions, performance budgets, and a ranked technical risk register.
- 03
Architecture and proof
Compare viable concepts and retire the highest-risk assumptions with analysis, breadboards, or targeted tests.
- 04
Detailed engineering
Develop controlled optical, mechanical, calibration, test, and supplier-ready documentation.
- 05
Build and verification
Support procurement, assembly, alignment, test correlation, root cause, and evidence-based iteration.
- 06
Release and transfer
Close acceptance criteria, configuration, supplier questions, manufacturing issues, and production handoff.
06Qualification questions
Questions engineering teams ask before engaging.
01What is custom optical design?
Custom optical design is the engineering of an optical system, such as a lens, imaging system, or illumination system, to meet specific application requirements rather than using an off-the-shelf component. It spans requirements definition, lens design and optimization, tolerancing, optomechanical integration, prototyping, and transfer to manufacturing.
02What is the difference between optical design and optomechanical engineering?
Optical design focuses on the manipulation of light—lens prescriptions, surface curves, glass choices, coating specs, and aberration correction in software like Zemax or CODE V. Optomechanical engineering designs the physical housings, mounts, alignment mechanisms, and thermal stabilization required to hold optical elements to precise tolerances in real-world environments.
03How does Zemax or CODE V lens modeling transition to physical prototype fabrication?
In optical design software, lenses are modeled as mathematical prescriptions. Transitioning to fabrication requires translating nominal designs into ISO 10110 drawings, performing Monte Carlo tolerance sensitivity analysis, defining mechanical datums, selecting glass/polymer vendors, specifying anti-reflection coatings, and establishing custom optical assembly and metrology plans.
04What information do you need to start a custom optical design project?
Ideally the application, key performance targets such as resolution, field, aperture, wavelength, and working distance, plus package, environment, cost, and volume constraints. If these are incomplete, PAO can develop the optical specification with you as the first step.
05Do you provide optical design consulting as well as full design?
Yes. Engagements range from a focused design review or feasibility study to a complete custom optical design carried from concept through manufacturing transfer.
06Which optical design software do you use?
PAO designs and tolerances in Zemax OpticStudio and CODE V, with stray-light and non-sequential analysis as required by the system.
08Start a conversation
Bring the application, targets, and constraints.
PAO can frame an architecture before requirements are complete, review an existing design, or take a custom optical design from concept to manufacturable hardware.