What advanced microoptic systems does

Advanced Microoptic Systems GmbH (aµs) is a privately-held German manufacturer founded in 1995 and headquartered in Saarbrücken. The company designs and fabricates refractive microlenses and microlens (lenslet) arrays using a proprietary photolithographical process based on chemical isotropic etch, applied to fused silica, optical glass, and plastics. Finished components enable beam manipulation — collimation, focusing, homogenizing, beam splitting, and imaging — and are specified at positioning accuracy better than 0.2 μm with λ/10 wavefront quality and fill factors above 90%.

The product portfolio comprises catalog refractive microlenses, standardized lenslet arrays, and customized arrays engineered to OEM customer specifications. aµs serves industrial and scientific customers across medical instruments, optosensorics, telecommunications, laser optics, measurement systems, machine vision, optical computing, 3D imaging, and astronomy, including documented supplier roles in the VLT/SPHERE-IFS, BIGRE, MEGARA, and PMAS astronomical instrumentation projects.

The business model is B2B OEM component manufacturing sold one-off/per-project (no disclosed licensing or SaaS layer), with global reach via direct enterprise field sales across Europe, North America, and the Pacific Rim. The company operates from an 800 m² facility (including 250 m² of clean rooms) with a team of roughly 25 specialists, is led by founder Peter Laupp as Geschäftsführer, and discloses no external investors, funding rounds, or public financial information.

Name

advanced microoptic systems

Legal name

advanced microoptic systems GmbH

Website

https://amus.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Advanced microoptic systems GmbH (aµs), founded 1995 in Saarbrücken, Germany, designs and manufactures refractive microlenses and lenslet arrays using proprietary photolithographic etch technology, supplying OEM customers across medical, telecom, laser optics, machine vision, and astronomy markets worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Microoptics components

SIC

Optical Instruments & Lenses (3827)

akta.pro primary industry

Optoelectronic Components (LEDs, photodiodes, optocouplers, optical sensors) (IMAGAJAF)

Keywords

• Refractive microlenses
• Microlens arrays
• Microoptics components
• Photolithographic microstructuring
• Lenslet array fabrication

Headquarters

HQ city

Saarbrücken

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Microoptics components and lenslet arrays: B2B OEM manufacturer of refractive microlenses and microlens arrays for industrial applications. Products are components sold to OEM customers for integration into their systems.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

aµs designs and manufactures refractive microlenses and microlens (lenslet) arrays using a proprietary photolithographical (chemical isotropic etch) process on fused silica, optical glass, and plastics. The components are sold to OEM customers for beam manipulation functions including collimation, focusing, homogenizing, beam splitting, and imaging across medical, telecommunications, laser optics, measurement, machine vision, and astronomy applications. Customized array designs are produced to specific customer requirements.

Product overview

Advanced Microoptic Systems (aµs) is a precision microoptics manufacturer founded in 1995, specializing in refractive microlenses and microlens arrays fabricated using proprietary photolithographical technology. The product portfolio centers on core offerings of refractive microlenses and lenslet arrays, complemented by customized array solutions. Their manufacturing capabilities include processing fused silica, optical glass, and plastics, with applications spanning diode laser collimation, laser-fibre coupling, optical switching, telecommunications, medical instruments, and astronomy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Refractive Microlenses Precision refractive microlenses fabricated using aµs's proprietary photolithographical (chemical isotropic etch) process on fused silica, optical glass, and plastics, offering positioning accuracy better than 0.2 μm and surface quality better than λ/10. Sold to OEM customers for integration into optical systems requiring beam manipulation functions such as collimation, focusing, homogenizing, beam splitting, and imaging across medical, telecommunications, laser, machine vision, measurement, and astronomy applications.
• Microlens Arrays (Lenslet Arrays) High-density microlens (lenslet) arrays available in various packaging types with fill factors exceeding 90%, manufactured using aµs's photolithographical technology. Used by OEM customers for beam manipulation — collimation, focusing, homogenizing, beam splitting, and imaging — in diode laser collimation, laser-fibre coupling, optical switching, multiplexing, beam bundling, medical instruments, optosensorics, telecommunications, laser optics, measurement systems, machine vision, optical computing, 3D imaging, and astronomy.
• Customized Microoptical Arrays Tailored microoptical array designs manufactured to specific customer requirements, including specialized geometries such as double microlens arrays and integral field units for advanced optical system integration. Targets OEM customers and scientific instrumentation programs with non-standard array specifications.

Segments9 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SPHERE-IFS Project (VLT)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMicro-optics supplier for the Spectro-Differential Imager of the VLT (Very Large Telescope) used for exoplanet search. Company supplies specialized microlens arrays for astronomical instrumentation.
• BIGRE ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLow cross-talk integral field unit tailored for extrasolar planets imaging spectroscopy. Company provides double microlens array components.
• MEGARA ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFocal plane subsystems project for astronomical spectroscopy. Company supplies micro-optic components.
• PMAS ProjectminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPotsdam Multi-Aperture Spectrophotometer project. Company provides micro-optic components.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Market position

Strengths4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 advanced microoptic systems