June 27, 2007 — Agilent Technologies Inc. has installed a new reactive magnetron thin-film optical coating system from Leybold Optics GmbH that will be used to coat components requiring extremely precise spectral and polarization control. The high-precision HELIOS System is the first to be installed in North America, and Agilent says it will help the company better serve customers in nanotechnology measurement and other markets, including aerospace/defense, vision systems, homeland security, and biotech instrumentation.

“The capabilities of the new HELIOS coating system will allow us to meet the ever-increasing demands of our customers to deliver optical components and assemblies with higher accuracy and tighter tolerances while offering reduced cost and improved repeatability,” said Vince Barich, Agilent Precision Optics operations manager. “It also complements our current capabilities in low-stress, high-performance coatings.”

Agilent says it can help deliver optical components and assemblies with higher accuracy and tighter tolerances — at reduced cost. (Photo: Agilent)

The HELIOS’s ‘reactive magnetron’ sputtering process is said to produce high-precision color, UV and IR filters, and beam splitter coatings with excellent quality. The system promises high-density coatings that are also less prone to moisture absorption, temperature shifting, and will work in air as well as in vacuum. Agilent expects this new capability to offer faster coating development and time-to-market for its customers.