SurFunction and Precitec Collaborate on Metasurfaces
SurFunction and Precitec are entering into a strategic partnership to bring Elipsys technology for functional metasurfaces into mass production on an international scale. Precitec will also handle sales and service.
Until now, components have obtained their surface properties through coating, electroplating, or chemical treatment. Functional metasurfaces break with this principle: Properties such as electrical contact, friction, adhesion, or wetting arise solely from micro- and nanoscale structures within the material itself. Thanks to the strategic partnership between SurFunction GmbH and the Precitec Group—one of the leading providers of laser technology and optical 3D measurement technology—this new technology category is now available worldwide for mass production. Precitec will also serve as a sales and service partner for Elipsys technology. Using Elipsys (Extended Laser Interference Patterning System), SurFunction structures metals, plastics, glass, and ceramics within industrial cycle times. The technology is based on Direct Laser Interference Patterning (DLIP), which was developed by Prof. Frank Mücklich and Prof. Andrés Lasagni. Applications range from electromobility and power electronics to battery and semiconductor manufacturing, as well as medical technology, optics, and tribology—for example, to create better electrical contacts, chemical-free pretreatment prior to bonding and coating, low-friction surfaces, as well as PFAS-free, antibacterial, or optically active structures.
Precitec handles global sales and service
SurFunction contributes the industrial process, application development, IP, and software, as well as many years of process expertise. Precitec brings more than 50 years of experience in industrial laser material processing—from processing heads to integration into systems from leading machine builders—as well as a sales and service network in 23 countries, including its own subsidiaries in the U.S., Japan, China, Korea, and India. With more than 30,000 systems installed, Precitec has been a trusted supplier for decades in the electric mobility, semiconductor, and electronics industries, as well as in medical technology and aerospace. For customers, this means: Elipsys can be integrated into existing production lines worldwide and is supported wherever they manufacture. “With Precitec, we are taking the decisive step from a technologically leading platform to a globally available industrial solution,” says Dr. Dominik Britz, CEO of SurFunction. “Precitec’s sales and service network opens up new opportunities for us, particularly in North America and Asia. Together, we aim to establish functional metasurfaces as a standard tool in industrial manufacturing.” “The surface is increasingly determining a component’s performance. With Elipsys, we’re expanding our portfolio to include a process that creates component functions directly within the material—for a wide range of applications,” says Dr. Thilo Wersborg, CEO of the Precitec Group.
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