Where do you get the ideas
that are always one step ahead
of technology?		 A commitment to new technologies in a free-minded R&D environment. An integrated production line with highest quality standards. It’s the connection of these two values what makes SUMITA a strong partner for the optical glass industry.   

Research and development – SUMITA’s lifework
Research and development activities at SUMITA always start by asking question. “Could something like this be created with optical glass? How can we make the technology we thought of yesterday even better by tomorrow? What does optical glass look like that is good for humans and just as good for the environment?” People working in R&D at SUMITA are not merely committed to productivity and efficiency. Their main driver is inspiration and so they are committed to new technology.
A free-minded corporate culture is a perfect research environment for producing revolutionary products. At SUMITA many products have been developed that are recognized for their excellence worldwide. For example, the “Photaron”, developed in the research stage of fluoride glass. The Photaron made a dream come true – the dream of creating artificial fluorite crystal with optical glass for the first time in the world. Until that time, fluorite crystal was used in delicate optical devices such as microscopes and its production was very expensive and extremely time consuming. Actually, at the time it seemed as if manufacturing optical glass with properties close to fluoride crystal was impossible. And then SUMITA’s R&D made the impossible possible. A dream come true. Another example of how a strong commitment to new developments can take technology beyond the limits are our R&D activities to improve optical glass’ refractive index. Once it was thought to be too difficult to manufacture precision molding glass with refractive index exceeding 2.0. At SUMITA we are currently developing K-PSFn214 products with an almost miraculous refractive index of 2.14. Just another of many proofs of our strategy of committing ourselves to new technologies and R&D.