Optical Fabrication Engineer
Job in
Lebanon, Grafton County, New Hampshire, 03766, USA
Listed on 2026-06-17
Listing for:
CivicMinds, Inc.
Full Time
position Listed on 2026-06-17
Job specializations:
-
Engineering
Process Engineer, Manufacturing Engineer, Quality Engineering
Job Description & How to Apply Below
Location:
Lebanon, NH
Key Responsibilities
Conventional Fabrication - Grinding, Lapping & Polishing
- Develop, qualify, and document loose-abrasive grinding and pitch-polishing processes for flats, spheres, prisms, and wedges across optical glasses, fused silica, calcium fluoride, and crystalline materials.
- Own pitch selection and management for the full fabrication pitch range (Gugolz #55-#82, Universal Photonics CP #55-#82); specify blends, flow control, channel geometry, and temperature regimes for each application.
- Control and troubleshoot cerium oxide and diamond slurry chemistry, concentration, pH, and contamination for consistent removal rate and surface quality.
- Diagnose and mitigate subsurface damage (SSD); establish grind-to-polish transition strategies that minimize polishing time while meeting figure and finish requirements.
- Perform CP lap conditioning and pad management; drive figure convergence on 12"-96" continuous polishers.
- Own process development and optimization for Speed Fam 22B, Opti Pro Glass Master 720, and equivalent equipment.
- Design and qualify carriers for new part geometries; specify pocket placement, eccentricity, and pressure distribution to achieve target figure and parallelism.
- Apply planetary kinematics speed ratio (k), relative velocity, and Preston equation fundamentals to predict and control removal rate and uniformity.
- Troubleshoot common DSP/DSL failure modes: center-to-edge non-uniformity, carrier wear, pad glazing, part chipping, and carrier-induced scratching.
- Lead prism angle fabrication including right-angle, Dove, Penta, Schmidt, and roof prisms; control pyramidal error, angle tolerance, and 90° squareness to arc-second levels.
- Specify and execute wax blocking, pitch button blocking, and array blocking strategies for prism and wedge production.
- Apply blocking-plate wedge analysis to predict and control cross-wedge and thickness variation in array-blocked components.
- Develop multi-element assembly and de-blocking procedures that protect finished surfaces.
- Operate Zygo GPI/Fizeau and New View interferometers; interpret Metro Pro / MX output including Zernike decomposition, PV/RMS figure, slope, and PSD/MSF analysis.
- Use Metro Script (OMP-0399P) for automated measurement routines, including the center-phase-array method for data centering and translation on masked apertures.
- Specify and apply MIL-PRF-13830B and ISO 10110 surface quality, figure, wedge, and centration requirements on engineering drawings.
- Use ZEISS CALYPSO CMM, Prism Master, autocollimators, and mechanical inspection tools to qualify dimensional and angular tolerances.
- Partner with Quality to drive FAI (AS9102), Gage R&R, and corrective action for fabrication yield issues.
- Author and maintain work instructions, SOPs, and process travellers for conventional fabrication operations in ERP system.
- Lead root-cause analysis on yield loss, scrap, and rework; implement preventive measures with measurable impact.
- Evaluate and qualify new equipment, tooling, and consumables (pitch, abrasives, carriers, blocking materials).
- Mentor Optical Fabrication Technicians I-III; support skills development, competency assessments, and training.
- Collaborate with operations on producibility reviews and design-for-fabrication feedback during quoting and program kick-off.
Experience
- 5+ years of hands-on precision optical fabrication experience in a defense, aerospace, or scientific optics production environment.
- Demonstrated expertise in conventional (non-CNC) fabrication processes: loose-abrasive grinding, pitch polishing, double-sided lapping/polishing, and prism work.
- Proven ability to independently develop and qualify fabrication processes from raw blank through finished component.
- Track record of solving complex yield, figure, or finish problems through first-principles analysis.
- Deep working knowledge of optical fabrication physics:
Preston equation, Hertzian contact, SSD mechanics, and pitch rheology. - Expert-level pitch…
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