SurFunction and Precitec have entered into a strategic partnership for the industrial application of functional metasurfaces. The goal is to bring the ELIPSYS platform, developed by SurFunction, into mass production worldwide. The technology creates surface properties such as electrical contact, friction, adhesion, or wetting through micro- and nanoscale structures within the material itself, eliminating the need for coating, electroplating, or chemical treatment.
At the heart of the technology is ELIPSYS, short for Extended Laser Interference Patterning System. This system enables metals, plastics, glass, and ceramics to be patterned at industrial production speeds. The technological basis is Direct Laser Interference Patterning (DLIP), which stems from the work of Prof. Frank Mücklich and Prof. Andrés Lasagni.
Applications for Various Industries
The partners see potential applications in areas such as electric mobility, power electronics, battery and semiconductor manufacturing, medical technology, optics, and tribology. Examples include improved electrical contacts, chemical-free pretreatment prior to bonding and coating, low-friction surfaces, as well as PFAS-free, antibacterial, or optically active structures.
The ELIPSYS E 960 C1 system demonstrates how far the technology has already advanced toward mass production. It structures strip material for electrical plug contacts at industrial speeds. This reduces contact resistance by up to 80 percent, while simultaneously enabling up to 60 percent more contacts with the same insertion force.
Sales and Service in 23 Countries
SurFunction brings industrial processes, application development, IP, software, and process expertise to the partnership. Precitec complements this with expertise in industrial laser material processing as well as a sales and service network in 23 countries, including its own subsidiaries in the U.S., Japan, China, Korea, and India. This will enable ELIPSYS to be integrated into existing production lines worldwide and supported on-site.
Dr. Dominik Britz, CEO of SurFunction, describes the collaboration as an important step toward market launch: “With Precitec, we are taking the decisive step from a technologically leading platform to a globally available industrial solution.” Dr. Thilo Wersborg, CEO of the Precitec Group, adds: “With ELIPSYS, we are expanding our portfolio to include a process that creates component functions directly within the material—for a wide range of applications.”
Through this partnership, both companies are addressing an area in which surface properties are increasingly being tailored directly via the structure rather than through additional layers. For surface engineering, this opens up new possibilities when properties such as wetting, friction, or electrical conductivity need to be specifically tailored using laser-generated micro- and nanostructures.