Lithoz and Glassomer release additively manufactured quartz glass
April 26, 2023
Lithoz GmbH, headquartered in Vienna, Austria, has worked with Glassomer, a manufacturer of technical and optical components based in Freiburg, Germany, to develop a new type of glass capable of being additively manufactured. The new material, ‘LithaGlass powered by Glassomer’, is processed using Lithoz’s lithography-based ceramic Additive Manufacturing technology and results in components with high precision and mechanical stability.
As a slurry with a base of quartz glass, LithaGlass is reported to be closer to a ceramic than standard glasses, such as soda-lime glass. It offers the desirable material properties of high-performance fused silica glass, including a low thermal expansion and high thermal shock resistance.
Glassomer classified Lithoz’s lithography-based technology as the only process capable of refining and additively manufacturing its material at such a high level.
“Glassomer’s choice of Lithoz’s LCM process as their key technology to achieve this innovation once again proves the sheer potential and flexibility of our system,” stated Dr Johannes Homa, CEO, Lithoz. “The new LithaGlass material brings our company one step closer to our vision – finding solutions to every challenge of today with a 3D-printed ceramic answer.”
Dr Frederik Kotz-Helmer, CSO of Glassomer explained, “Our transparent high-purity glass solutions offer enormous potential for many applications, especially for high-stability optical and technical parts. With Lithoz we have a powerful partner to make our glasses available for high precision 3D-printing – which will significantly advance science and technology.”
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