Spectrum Thin Films — Service 'Expressed' in Sales

A 24-hour express delivery service for hundreds of standard coatings is one of the qualities that sets Spectrum Thin Films apart from its competition and exemplifies its customer-service-oriented philosophy, said Wayne Griffith, its sale and marketing manager.

The efforts are paying off: Sales continue to grow at a "remarkable rate" of 25 percent per year, Griffith said. "Our goal for 2007 is 30 percent."

Anthony Pirera, president of Spectrum Thin Films

Based in Bohemia, N.Y., on Long Island, the company makes optics and optical coatings from 0.193-20 microns, including antireflection, reflectors, beamsplitters, polarizing control, multispectral laser coatings, filters and development runs. It specializes in custom high-laser-damage coatings and ion-assist deposition and provides ion-assist deposition, along with its thin-film express 24-hour delivery service, as well as in-house computer design and testing.

Spectrum was founded in 1993 and today has 25 employees; Anthony Pirera is president and Harry Sudwischer is in charge of technical sales. Its optics and optical coatings are used by government agencies, research organizations, laser manufacturers, commercial optics providers, observatories and the optical manufacturing industry. Among its customers are optical manufacturers, research organizations, laser manufacturers, NASA, medical industries and the military.

Products include no-rail-mark coatings, application, scan mirror and micro-optics; nonradioactive infrared coatings; laser rod coating up to 14 inches long, and low-scatter coatings. Coatings range from 193 nm to 20 µms.

Spectrum's in-house testing equipment includes an ultraviolet-visible infrared (UV-VIS-IR) spectrophotomer and environmental and test chambers.

The Chamber II

Spectrum is incorporating automation in its existing coating chambers by installing two onboard computers, touch-screen displays, a logic controller and upgraded power supplies. The company widened its capabilities with the addition of a Perkin Elmer 983G IR spectrophotometer. This unit also went through an upgrade, adding Film Start software to enhance its already very capable scanning ability, Wayne Griffith said.

He added that absolute reflectance attachment was added to the company's Cary 400, 500 and 5000 model units, allowing for very accurate high-reflective measurements. The PE 983 G will also receive an attachment, he said. The company's IBS coating machine, a fully automated sputtering unit, is now functional, allowing spectrum to manufacture very complex coatings.

"Infrared coatings took a leap forward, allowing us to coat wavelengths like 3-5, 8-12 and 3-12 µms on various infrared substrates," Griffith said.

Spectrum's new IBS coating machine is a fully automated sputtering unit.

Spectrum recently completed phase one of a New York State grant, leading the company on the path to ISO 9000 certification, and was awarded a second state grant for a program, expected to be completed in 2007, to train its management and staff to be more efficient and effective employees.

Blue Hill Optical Technologies Inc., of Norwood, Mass. (Phil Barrows, president), an optical product representation company in North America, serves Spectrum Thin Films and its customers in New York State.

For more information, visit: www.spectrumthinfilms.com