# Custom Parts Manufacturing for Optics & Photonics

> Micron-stable mounts and baseplates that hold an optical alignment for years.

- HTML page: https://fabvector.com/industries/optics-photonics (Portuguese: https://fabvector.com/pt/industries/optics-photonics)

## Sourcing pain points we solve

Optical hardware fails invisibly: a mount that creeps a few microns or a baseplate that bows with the seasons puts a beam off target with no broken part to point at, so flatness, stability and stress-relieved machining matter more than any single tolerance. Thermal expansion drives material choice — MIC-6 for stability, Invar 36 where drift must approach zero — and few shops machine Invar well. Stray light makes matte black anodize an optical specification, not a cosmetic one. Vacuum and laser systems add cleanliness and low-outgassing demands, plus flatness and angle reports standard shops do not produce.

## Typical parts

- Lens mounts and cells
- Laser baseplates and optical benches
- Filter wheels and aperture hardware
- Precision kinematic adjusters and stages

## Recommended materials

- [aluminum-6061](https://fabvector.com/md/materials/aluminum-6061)
- [aluminum-mic-6](https://fabvector.com/md/materials/aluminum-mic-6)
- [invar-36](https://fabvector.com/md/materials/invar-36)
- [brass-c360](https://fabvector.com/md/materials/brass-c360)

## Recommended finishes

- [anodizing-type-ii-color](https://fabvector.com/md/finishes/anodizing-type-ii-color)
- [bead-blasting](https://fabvector.com/md/finishes/bead-blasting)
- [electroless-nickel-plating](https://fabvector.com/md/finishes/electroless-nickel-plating)

## Certifications & standards

- **ISO 9001**: We understand photonics buyers expect ISO 9001 process discipline plus flatness and angle inspection reports on critical optical interfaces.
- **RoHS / REACH**: We support RoHS/REACH declarations for opto-mechanical assemblies entering instruments and laser products.

_We understand and support these requirements; certification and documentation scope is confirmed per order — we do not claim to hold certifications on this page._

## Buyer questions, answered

### Why are optical mounts anodized black, and does the process affect precision?

Black Type II anodize kills stray reflections in the beam path. The layer grows roughly half into and half out of the surface — figure 5–12 µm per side — so precision bores and register faces are either masked or machined with the growth budgeted. A drawing that ignores this loses its fits at assembly.

### What flatness can be held on optical breadboards and stage plates?

MIC-6 cast plate holds 0.05–0.1 mm/m machined conventionally, better with grinding as a final op. The reason MIC-6 over rolled plate is not the number on day one — it is that stress-relieved cast plate still measures the same after a season of thermal cycles.

### When is Invar 36 worth its machining cost in an optical assembly?

When the thermal expansion budget is the design driver — laser cavities, interferometer frames, athermal lens cells. Invar cuts slowly and gums tooling, so a part costs several times its aluminum twin; if your temperature swing is small, 6061 with a compensated design is often the smarter spend.