From August 24 to 28, 2026, the European optics and photonics community gathered in Tampere, Finland, for the Annual Meeting of the European Optical Society (EOSAM 2026). Representing the IOM, Dr. Gregor Dornberg and Florian Hölzel, research associates in the research field “Ultra-Precision Surfaces“, attended the conference and presented current results from recently completed research projects.

Dr. Gregor Dornberg presented a new approach to manufacturing blazed gratings in silicon using reactive ion beam etching. The method opens up new possibilities for the precise fabrication of optical structures.

In two contributions, Florian Hölzel presented research results on the ultra-precision processing of optical surfaces. His talks focused on the optimization of aluminum mirrors using reactive ion beam figuring and on the smoothing of fused silica surfaces by atmospheric plasma jet polishing (PJP).

With these three contributions, the IOM brought its expertise in ion beam- and plasma-assisted precision processing to the international scientific exchange.

EOSAM is one of Europe’s established specialist conferences in optics and photonics. Around 500 participants from more than 30 countries gathered in Tampere in 2026 to discuss current developments and research findings from science and applications.