What Spectrum Scientific does

Spectrum Scientific, Inc. (SSI) is a privately held precision optics manufacturer founded in 2004 and headquartered at 16692 Hale Avenue, Irvine, California. The company specializes in holographic diffraction gratings, aspheric and freeform mirrors, hollow retroreflectors, miniature UV spectrometers, and DUV/VUV optical coatings. Its manufacturing is built around a proprietary optical replication process that achieves λ/10 surface quality or better, λ/80 RMS figure, and 7Å roughness on space-qualified parts at up to 50% lower cost than conventional manufacturing, with replication diameters up to 305mm and annual capacity above 10,000 mirrors.

The technical platform includes a proprietary UV blazing technique delivering 80%+ efficiency gratings tested down to 120nm, holographic master grating production with industry-leading stray light rejection, DUV/VUV reflective coatings that run approximately 10% higher reflectivity than market alternatives, and a silicone-free ISO Class 7 cleanroom for space-qualified manufacturing. In-house optical design is performed in Zemax and Code V with over 20 years of accumulated design library. The company is ISO 9001:2015 certified, RoHS compliant, and has supplied optics to NASA programs including JPL, OCO, and OMPS.

Spectrum Scientific operates a B2B, sales-led hybrid model combining an e-commerce storefront with direct enterprise sales, custom design services, and OEM volume manufacturing under kanban/safety stock and Net 30 terms. Standard catalog prices range from $85 for telecom gratings to $5,495 for UV-470-151 spectrometers, with custom and OEM pricing on request. Customer segments span space and astronomy, telecommunications (O-, C-, L-band), analytical and life science instrumentation, industrial manufacturing, laser and photonics, and metrology and sensing, making the business a horizontally diversified precision optics supplier rather than a single-vertical specialist.

Name

Spectrum Scientific

Legal name

Spectrum Scientific, Inc.

Website

https://ssioptics.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Spectrum Scientific is an Irvine, California-based precision optics manufacturer founded in 2004 that uses proprietary optical replication to produce diffraction gratings, aspheric and freeform mirrors, retroreflectors, and miniature UV spectrometers for space, telecom, analytical, laser, and industrial customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Irvine

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Infrastructure, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Precision Optical Components: Revenue from manufacturing and selling diffraction gratings (ruled, holographic, blazed, sinusoidal), precision mirrors (aspheric, parabolic, ellipsoidal, freeform, flat, hollow retroreflectors), and optical sub-assemblies. Products sold in standard sizes as well as custom OEM configurations.
2. Miniature UV Spectrometers: Sale of complete spectrometer products including UV-470 Standard, UV-470-151 (with CCD detector), and UV-470 OEM engine. One-time hardware purchases with optional customization.
3. Custom Design and Manufacturing Services: Custom optical design and manufacturing services for bespoke optics including design consultation, prototyping, and volume production. Revenue from engineering services and custom tooling.
4. Optical Coatings: Revenue from applying optical coatings including aluminum, enhanced aluminum (MgF2, SiO2), gold for IR, and custom DUV/VUV coatings to customer-specified optics.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Spectrum Scientific manufactures and sells high-precision optical components — primarily diffraction gratings (ruled, holographic, blazed, sinusoidal), aspheric, parabolic, ellipsoidal, and freeform mirrors, hollow retroreflectors, and miniature UV spectrometers — using a proprietary optical replication process. The company also provides custom optical design, coatings, measurement, sub-assembly, and space-qualified manufacturing services for OEM, scientific, telecom, and aerospace customers worldwide.

Product overview

Spectrum Scientific offers a comprehensive portfolio of precision optical components and systems centered on optical replication technology. The core product lines include diffraction gratings (ruled, holographic, blazed, sinusoidal, concave, telecom, pulse compression, and space-qualified), aspheric mirrors and retroreflectors (off-axis parabolic, ellipsoidal, freeform, flat, and hollow retroreflectors), and miniature UV spectrometers (UV-470 Standard, UV-470-151 with CCD detector, and UV-470 OEM engine). These products are complemented by optical design services, measurement services, custom optics manufacturing, sub-assembly and system integration capabilities, and a full range of optical coatings from DUV (120nm) to IR (10μm). The company specializes in high-volume precision optics production using proprietary optical replication processes, serving scientific, industrial, space, telecommunications, and analytical instrumentation markets.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Diffraction Gratings High-precision diffraction gratings for UV-to-IR applications available in ruled and holographic types in sinusoidal or blazed formats and both plane and concave geometries, including OEM gratings, space-qualified gratings, telecom gratings, and pulse compression gratings for B2B customers in space, telecom, analytical, and laser instrumentation markets.
• Precision Mirrors and Retroreflectors High-precision reflective optics manufactured using optical replication technology, including aspheric mirrors, off-axis parabolic mirrors, ellipsoidal mirrors, freeform mirrors, flat mirrors, hollow retroreflectors, and custom monolithic mirrors for OEMs, scientific instrument makers, metrology systems, and space programs.
• UV-470 Miniature UV Spectrometer Family Miniature spectrometers operating in the 190-850nm spectral range with aberration-corrected concave holographic gratings, offered as the UV-470 Standard spectrometer ($3,495), the UV-470-151 complete spectrograph with Hamamatsu CCD detector ($5,495), and the customizable UV-470 OEM engine for system integrators.
• Sub-Assemblies and Opto-Mechanical Systems Opto-mechanical sub-assembly and system manufacturing, including pre-mounted and aligned mirrors and gratings, spectroscopic assemblies, and fully assembled opto-mechanical systems including spectroscopy modules with detectors and electronics for OEMs and instrument integrators.
• Optical Coatings (Aluminum, Gold, DUV/VUV) Range of optical coatings applied to customer-specified optics, including aluminum (bare and enhanced with MgF2 or SiO2), gold for IR use from 700nm to 10μm (~97% reflectivity), and custom deep-UV/vacuum-UV coatings optimized down to 120nm for spectroscopy, analytical instrumentation, chemical analysis, and space astronomy.
• Custom Optics Design and Manufacturing Comprehensive custom design and manufacturing service for bespoke optics including cylindrical and toroidal mirrors, hybrid structures, nanostructures, complex optics, and Rowland-type gratings, with design collaboration, quality assurance, high-volume production, and delivery for OEM and scientific customers.
• Optical Design Services Comprehensive optical design, optimization, and manufacturing service specializing in diffraction gratings, parabolic/elliptical/cylindrical mirrors, spectrograph modules, integrated optical modules, and freeform mirrors, drawing on 20+ years of experience with Zemax and Code V optical design software.
• Measurement Services Comprehensive measurement capabilities including interferometric measurements, grating efficiency testing, groove profile analysis, resolution measurement, mirror reflectivity testing, stray-light analysis, surface micro-roughness measurement, and technical support for precision optical customers.
• Space-Qualified Optical Manufacturing Space-qualified optical replication manufacturing service for mirrors and gratings delivering ultra-low stray-light performance, executed in silicone-free ISO Class 7 cleanroom production and test areas with capability for parts up to 12 inches (305 mm) in diameter, targeted at aerospace and government satellite programs.

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to 50% cost reduction compared to conventionally manufactured optics
• +9 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Thorlabs: Large-catalog optics and photonics manufacturer offering diffraction gratings, mirrors, and spectroscopic components. Directly competes with Spectrum Scientific in OEM optical component supply to research and industrial customers across spectroscopy and laser instrumentation.
• Edmund Optics: Global supplier of optical components including precision mirrors, gratings, and aspheric optics. Comparable to SSI in serving B2B OEM and research customers across spectroscopy, laser, and analytical instrumentation markets.
• Wasatch Photonics: Manufacturer of volume phase holographic (VPH) gratings and pulse compression gratings for laser and spectroscopy applications. Direct competitor to SSI's holographic grating and laser pulse compression product lines.
• LightSmyth Technologies: Specialized manufacturer of high-efficiency diffraction gratings, holographic optical elements, and telecom-optimized gratings. Direct competitor especially in telecom gratings and NIR-optimized optical components serving similar OEM customers.
• HORIBA Scientific: Division of HORIBA providing spectrometers, diffraction gratings, and analytical optical components. Comparable to SSI in serving spectroscopy and analytical instrumentation customers with both optical subassemblies and integrated instruments.
• Headwall Photonics: Specialized in holographic gratings and hyperspectral imaging optics. Comparable to SSI's holographic diffraction grating capabilities and shared focus on OEM spectrometer and spectral imaging customers.
• Optometrics: Specialized manufacturer of diffraction gratings, optical components, and laser tuning elements. Direct competitor in standard and custom gratings for OEM and research customers in spectroscopy and laser systems.

Broad incumbents

• Newport (MKS Instruments): Broad-line photonics and precision optics supplier within MKS Instruments. Overlaps with SSI on gratings, mirrors, and freeform optics but operates a much wider catalog across semiconductor, research, and industrial markets.
• Carl Zeiss: Diversified precision optics and systems company with comparable capabilities in precision mirrors and freeform optics. Operates at much larger scale across multiple end-markets including industrial metrology and semiconductor lithography.
• Jenoptik: European-based photonics and precision optics company with comparable offerings in diffraction gratings, optical systems, and light management solutions. Competes in industrial, semiconductor, and life science instrumentation markets.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/spectrum-scientific-inc.

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Spectrum Scientific