Custom Graticules Manufacture
Kingsview Optical is a custom graticule manufacturer UK instrument designers and defence contractors have relied on since 1996. We produce precision graticules and reticles via photolithography or lift-off deposition — the process used is determined by your pattern requirements, line widths and the level of definition needed. Our on-site vacuum coating facility allows us to deposit patterns using a range of metals including chrome, giving you the flexibility to specify the coating that best suits your application environment and wavelength range.
One capability that sets us apart as a UK graticule manufacturer is the breadth of substrates we can work with. Because we also manufacture optical components in-house, we can deposit your graticule pattern directly onto prisms, windows, filters and other optical elements — not just flat glass blanks. This opens up design possibilities that most graticule suppliers simply cannot offer. Anti-reflection coatings for specific wavelengths can be applied on the same site immediately after pattern deposition, giving you a complete, inspection-verified graticule ready for integration into your instrument.
Graticule applications
Custom graticules and reticles from Kingsview are used across a wide range of precision instruments and applications:
Graticule Coating Materials
Choosing the right deposited material for your graticule depends on your reflectance requirements, operating environment and the precision of pattern definition needed. Kingsview offers four options:
- Chrome
Chrome is the most widely used material for custom graticule manufacture. It produces exceptionally well-defined, high-contrast patterns and is the most resilient of the available options — making it the preferred choice for most applications. Surface reflectance from chrome is approximately 60%, which is ideal where the patterned surface is not being used as a reflector. For the majority of reticles and crosshair patterns, chrome is the correct choice.
- Protected aluminium
Where higher surface reflectance is required, protected aluminium offers approximately 85% reflectance — significantly higher than chrome. Aluminium exhibits good adhesion properties and produces clean, well-defined patterns, though it is marginally less robust than chrome in demanding environments. If your application uses the reflection from the graticule surface, aluminium is the appropriate choice.
- Protected Silver
Protected silver delivers the highest reflectance of the three metallic options at approximately 95%, making it suitable for applications where maximum reflectance is critical. Silver is more challenging to process through photolithography due to its adhesion characteristics, and it is less suited to outdoor or harsh environment use compared to chrome or aluminium. It is best reserved for protected indoor instrument applications where its reflectance advantage justifies the additional manufacturing complexity.
- High contrast black
Our high-contrast black coating is a proprietary option developed in-house at Kingsview. It delivers the highest visual contrast of any of our coating options, making it particularly well-suited to resolution test charts, calibration targets and any application where maximum pattern visibility against the background is the primary requirement. The coating is highly resilient and performs well across a range of environmental conditions.
The Graticule Manufacturing Process
Understanding how photolithographic graticules are produced helps in specifying them correctly. The process begins with your pattern artwork — supplied as a DXF, Gerber, PDF or similar format — which is used to produce a photomask. The glass substrate is then coated with a photosensitive resist layer, exposed through the photomask under controlled UV illumination, and developed to reveal the pattern. The chosen metallic layer is then deposited by vacuum evaporation, and the resist is removed in the lift-off stage to leave the finished pattern on the substrate.
Line widths down to a few microns are achievable, and positional accuracy is maintained to sub-micron tolerances across the full substrate area. The process is equally suited to simple crosshairs and to complex multi-element patterns with fine detail.
Pattern Artwork Requirements
Submitting your pattern artwork in the correct format ensures the fastest possible turnaround from enquiry to production. Kingsview accepts graticule pattern artwork in the following formats: DXF (preferred for precision patterns with defined coordinates), Gerber (RS-274X), PDF (vector, not raster) and AutoCAD DWG. Bitmap formats such as JPEG, PNG and TIFF are not suitable for graticule production as they do not carry the dimensional accuracy required for photolithographic manufacture.
When preparing your artwork, the following specifications ensure your pattern translates accurately into the finished graticule: all dimensions should be drawn at 1:1 scale with units clearly stated in millimetres; line widths should be defined explicitly and should not fall below 2 microns for standard photolithography (finer features are possible — contact us to discuss); text elements should be converted to outlines rather than live text to avoid font substitution errors; and the clear aperture boundary of the graticule should be indicated as a separate layer or annotation.
If you do not have artwork and need help developing your pattern specification, our team can work from a sketch, a description of your functional requirement, or an existing graticule you wish to replicate. We provide a pattern proof for your approval before any substrate is committed to production. For defence and security applications requiring pattern confidentiality, all work is carried out under NDA on request.
Tolerances and Inspection
All graticules produced by Kingsview are inspected under magnification for pattern quality, edge definition and dimensional accuracy before despatch. Critical dimensions are verified using calibrated metrology equipment. For customers requiring first-article inspection reports, material traceability certificates or coating verification documentation for defence or regulated medical device applications, these can be provided as part of the order.
