Compare Model Drawings, CAD & Specs Availability Price
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 12 x 12 x 2.3 in., 1/4-20, Microlocks
$1,373
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 12 x 24 x 2.3 in., 1/4-20, Microlocks
$1,516
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 12 x 36 x 2.3 in., 1/4-20, Microlocks
$1,661
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 12 x 48 x 2.3 in., 1/4-20, Microlocks
$1,945
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 24 x 24 x 2.3 in., 1/4-20, Microlocks
$1,956
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 24 x 36 x 2.3 in., 1/4-20, Microlocks
$2,214
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 24 x 48 x 2.3 in., 1/4-20, Microlocks
$2,501
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 24 x 60 x 2.3 in., 1/4-20, Microlocks
$2,781
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 24 x 72 x 2.3 in., 1/4-20, Microlocks
$3,116
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 36 x 36 x 2.3 in., 1/4-20, Microlocks
$2,646
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 36 x 48 x 2.3 in., 1/4-20, Microlocks
$3,034
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 36 x 60 x 2.3 in., 1/4-20, Microlocks
$3,487
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 36 x 72 x 2.3 in., 1/4-20, Microlocks
$3,878
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 48 x 48 x 2.3 in., 1/4-20, Microlocks
$3,596
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 48 x 60 x 2.3 in., 1/4-20, Microlocks
$4,162
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 48 x 72 x 2.3 in., 1/4-20, Microlocks
$4,720
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 48 x 96 x 2.3 in., 1/4-20, Microlocks
$5,414
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 300 x 300 x 58 mm, Microlocks, M6
$1,373
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 300 x 600 x 58 mm, Microlocks, M6
$1,516
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 300 x 900 x 58 mm, Microlocks, M6
$1,661
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 300x1200x58 mm, Microlocks, M6
$1,945
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 600 x 600 x 58 mm, Microlocks, M6
$1,956
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 600 x 900 x 58 mm, Microlocks, M6
$2,214
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 600x1200x58 mm, Microlocks, M6
$2,501
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 600x1500x58 mm, Microlocks, M6
$2,781
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 600x1800x58 mm, Microlocks, M6
$3,116
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 900 x 900 x 58 mm, Microlocks, M6
$2,646
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 900x1200x58 mm, Microlocks, M6
$3,034
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 900x1500x58 mm, Microlocks, M6
$3,487
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 900x1800x58 mm, Microlocks, M6
$3,878
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 1200x1200x58 mm, Microlocks, M6
$3,596
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 1200x1500x58 mm, Microlocks, M6
$4,162
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 1200x1800x58 mm, Microlocks, M6
$4,720
Honeycomb Optical Breadboard, 3.4 mm Skin, 1200x2400x58 mm, Microlocks, M6
$5,414

For industrial grade optical breadboards without microlocks, click here

Specifications

  • Type
    Honeycomb Core Optical Breadboard
  • Modal Damping
    No
  • Broadband Damping
    Constrained layer core, damped working surface, and composite edge finish
  • Thickness
    2.3 in. (59 mm)
  • Working Surface
    0.134 in. (3.4 mm) thick 430 ferromagnetic stainless steel
  • Surface Flatness
    ±0.006 in. (0.15 mm) over any 2 ft. (600 mm) square
  • Bottom Skin Material
    3.4 mm thick carbon steel
  • Microlocks
    Yes
  • Mounting Holes
    1/4-20
    M6 (M- Versions)
  • Mounting Hole Type
    Cut (not rolled) threads with countersink
  • Mounting Hole Pattern
    1.0 in. grid
    25 mm grid (M- Versions)
  • Mounting Hole Borders
    0.5 in.
    12.5 mm (M- Versions)
  • Hole Sealing Type
    Easy clean conical cup, 0.75 in. (19 mm) deep, non-corrosive high impact polymer material
  • Core Design
    Trussed hexagonal honeycomb, vertically bonded closed cell construction, 0.010 in. (0.25 mm) steel sheet materials, 0.030 in. (0.76 mm) triple core interface

Features

Breadboard Microlock Mounting

Microlock tie-downs are a unique innovation that provide versatile and positive mounting of honeycomb optical breadboards above an optical table or directly onto any vertical or horizontal structure. Microlocks include tapped through holes on different locations of the breadboard, as well as the insert to accept 1/4-20 or M6 screws for mounting. The Microlock insert provides a vertical adjustment range of at least 1 in. (25 mm), positive locking of the height, and solid attachment to the primary structure of the optical breadboard for optimum stability. XP Series Breadboard Support Posts or NewDamp™ Elastomeric Vibration Isolators are typically used for mounting a Microlock equipped breadboard at various heights above an optical table.

IG Optical Breadboard Broadband Damping Performance

The 3.4 mm thick working surface on IG optical breadboards is bonded to a polymeric material that serves to seal the honeycomb core and damp the working surface. The trussed honeycomb is vertically bonded enabling a rigid triple core interface. Although the adhesive is rigid, its broadband damping factor is much higher than that of steel and introduces substantial damping into the core. The side panels are made of a highly damped, epoxy sealed wood composite. Compared to the metal sides used by other breadboard manufacturers, the composite wood sides offer significant damping to the structure and eliminate another source of resonance.

The compliance curve shows the positional motion of the breadboard structure for a given excitation force and frequency. The red is the rigid body line showing how an ideal optical breadboard would perform with no relative motion. The blue line shows the natural frequencies of an IG breadboard and how they deviate from that of a rigid body.

Corner compliance of a model IG-23-2 optical breadboard

Trussed Honeycomb Core with Unmatched Stiffness

Our trussed honeycomb core design maximizes an optical breadboard's rigidity to weight ratio by using an additional steel member to bridge across the center of the honeycomb cells. This design enables a triple core interface at each hexagonal honeycomb cell that is vertically bonded along the height of the core. Most manufacturers use 0.010 in. thick steel sheet for a 0.02 in. core interface, while our trussed design provides a 0.03 in. thick triple core interface for a 50% increase in local rigidity. To manufacture a honeycomb core with these advanced features, each piece of corrugated honeycomb steel sheet is emerged in proprietary elastomeric vibration absorbing materials and bonded vertically throughout the height of the core. This labor intensive procedure allows our optical breadboards to offer the highest static and dynamic rigidity, while also increasing point load carrying ability.

Hexagonal Honeycomb Core Advantages

A typical optical breadboard features a sandwich structure consisting of two faceplates and a lightweight honeycomb core for a high stiffness-to-weight ratio. Most manufacturers use a traditional open cell construction that can't match the static rigidity of a Newport optical breadboard. Our honeycomb core design is different than our competitors. We use a high-performance trussed hexagonal shape honeycomb core which offers several advantages over ordinary small-cell round core designs. The hexagonal shape allows for a much greater surface area for bonding together adjacent cores vs. traditional designs that use corrugated wavy steel sheet with minimal contact between adjacent cores. The additional bonding area also improves the strength of our truss design that bisects each hexagonal core.

Grid of Individually Sealed Threaded Mounting Holes

All of our optical breadboards are designed with a grid individually sealed 1/4-20 or M6 threaded mounting holes. Those mounting holes feature 19 mm screw depth. In contrast to some of the other products in the market that has channel for a row of holes or just a polymeric film, our individually sealed holes are more reliable and easier to clean. This is because we believe in the integrity of the product - especially the core. When dust and liquids go into your optical breadboard and table, it may have a long term effect on the damping performance of the product and make the product degrade over time. A good quality breadboard and table lasts long time - tens of years and more. It's a good investment for a product with sealed mounting holes.

Custom Optical Breadboard Options

Newport has a dedicated custom design team for your custom needs. This team has been working with various types of materials, shapes, structures, hole patterns (and many more) for over 40 years, and has served customers across the world in research, aerospace, semiconductor and medical related fields. We are committed to providing an accurate and timely quoting response, professional communications of custom design review and changes, optimum turnaround time, and the highest quality end product. Contact Newport Sales for more information.

Selection Guide

Optical Breadboard Selection Guide

Optical breadboards are selected based on performance criteria like damping and stiffness based on the application. Once the type of breadboard required is determined you can choose the surface size that will support your application.

Precision Grade Scientific Grade Industrial Grade Manufacturing Grade Solid Aluminum
Applications Interferometry and critical high resolution experiments Electro-optical experiments & processes Industrial equipment platforms and less critical experiments Telecom device manufacturing requiring a low cost, high-quality mounting surface Classroom demonstrations and equipment setups
Damping Performance ★★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★ ★★
Stiffness ★★★★★ ★★★★★ ★★★ ★★
Cost $$$$$ $$$$ $$$ $$ $
Working Surface 4.8 mm Thick 430 Stainless Steel 3.4 mm Thick 430 Stainless Steel Anodized Aluminum
Bottom Skin 3.4 mm thick Carbon Steel N/A
Core Design Vertically Bonded Trussed Honeycomb Formed Composite N/A
Side Panels Modal Dampers Highly Damped Composite Wood N/A
Ferromagnetism Magnetic Non-Magnetic
Mounting Holes Tapped and Individually Sealed Tapped Through
Mounting Threads 1/4-20 (M6) on 1 in. (25 mm) Grid
Standard Version PG SG IG TD SA2
Microlock Version PG-ML SG-ML IG-ML N/A N/A
Double Density Hole Version N/A SGD N/A N/A SA2-D
LaserClean Version N/A LC N/A N/A N/A