This page was updated on Jan 15, 2022
This beautifully made high-end industrial lens was designed by Optikos for Teradyne corp. for semiconductor inspection. Optikos is a metrology equipment and software company based in Wakefield, MA, USA, and have been around for 35 + years. They a huge list of clients, LensRentals.com optical testing company, OLAF, uses some Optikos equipment on their lens test bench for example. Teradyne, an Optikos customer, designs semiconductor test systems for firms like Samsung, Qualcomm, Intel, etc.
The Optikos Teradyne 106mm f/2 is a very specialized ultra high performance lens with a very fast maximum aperture for specific magnification use made for wafer and mask inspection for semiconductor quality control. When I bought this lens in 2017 as new-old-stock still in the box for a ridiculous price, I had no idea what I had my hands on. This lens resembles a Optical Printing lens, something like the Printing-NIKKOR, Nikon Repro-Nikkor 100 mm f/2.8, or Kodak Printing Ektar 103mm f/2.8, but with an even larger maximum aperture. This lens shares 45mm lens mounts with the Printing-NIKKORs and some of the Rayfact lenses and the image quality is similar with APO correction, flat field and maximum performance at f/2.8.
If you know anything about this lens or have any leads on any for sale, drop me a message or email me using the contact link on the lower left (right side menu on mobile). Thanks!
The Optikos Teradyne 106s round 13 blade iris, I wish all of my industrial lenses had a round iris shape like this.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
Optikos Teradyne 106mm f/2
Type: wafer and mask inspection lens for semiconductor quality control
Focal length: 106mm
Aperture: 13 blade iris
Optical design: unknown
Magnification: Optimized for 2.82x magnification in reverse, 0.35x forwards
Magnification range: 2.5-3x or 1/3-1/4
Coverage: Full frame
Distortion: looks like zero
Working distance: Good
Optical Coating: Multicoating
Chromatic Aberration Correction: APO
Flat field correction: Yes
Front lens mount: M52.5 P= 0.80mm
Rear lens mount: M45 P= 0.75mm
Maximum aperture: f/2
Best Aperture: f/2.5 - f/2.8
Aperture range: f/2 - f/16
Coverage: ⌀ 43mm
Source: Lens made in US
Design includes sensor coverglass: No
RATING
What I like about the lens
Ultra high image Quality
Fast usable aperture
13-blade iris shape
Full frame sensor coverage
Things that I dislike about the lens
Complete lack of information available on this lens
Image Quality sample
100% center crop - Optikos Teradyne 106mm f/2 at f/2.8 and 2.5x
100% center crop - Optikos Teradyne 106mm f/2 at f/2.8 and 2.5x
Image quality at f/2 and 2.8x
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100% View Crops
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Upper left corner
Left edge
Center
2.8x Test Results
The peak sharpness level out of this lens is at the maximum of f/2 with a large enough image circle for perfect coverage for an APS-C sensor. Stopping down to f/2.8 improves corner sharpness and overall image quality but sharpness in the center drops off a little as you stop down further due to diffraction. The lens was optimized for 2.8x but image quality is still fantastic anywhere from 2.5x to 3x. This type sharpness and image quality is only found in certain high-end microscope objectives and still even then only a couple of models can match the coverage of this lens.
The only match for this lens that I can think of are similar industrial lenses like the Rayfact lenses, Printing-NIKKORs, and the Schneider Xenon-Sapphire series.
2.8X Test Setup
Camera: Sony α6300, model # ILCE-6300, also known as: A6300
Sensor size: APS-C 23.5 × 15.6 mm. 28.21 mm diagonal. 3.92 micron sensor pitch
Flash: Godox TT350s wireless flash x 2 with one Godox X1s 2.4G wireless flash transmitter
Vertical stand: Nikon MM-11 with a Nikon focus block
For this test a stack of images was made with 2 micron steps, and was repeated for each aperture. The sharpest frame was then chosen using Photoshop at 100% actual pixel view. Separate images were selected for center, edge, and corner if needed. Each image was processed in PS CC with identical settings with all noise reduction and lens correction turned off, all settings were zeroed out (true zero) and the same settings were used for all of the images.
Lens FAQ
What information do we have on this lens?
Only the information that was printed on the lens box, name of the lens, Inspection lens and 2.82x magnification. If you anything more about this lens please message us and let us know.
What Is a wafer inspection wens?
A wafer inspection lens is a optical tool for inspecting semiconductor wafers (silicon wafers). These wafers have patterns with features such as transistors, interconnects, and other components. The lens is part of a system that checks for flaws and irregularities in the wafer’s patterns. It helps find defects that can affect the reliability and performance of the finished electronic devices.
Where can I buy a lens like this?
This lens is out of production and was probably made to order anyway so the total number of these lenses made was very low. By pure luck I just happened to stumble on this lens one day on eBay, sold as new-old-stock by a silicon valley surplus equipment dealer.
How does this lens compare to a microscope objective?
Objectives don’t really compare due limited sensor coverage caused by design limitations mainly small field diameter/image circle. The Mitutoyo M Plan Apo 5x pushed down to 2.82x would not cover an APS-C sensor. The Mitutoyo M Plan Apo 2x objective has a focal length is 100mm but the an NA of only 0.055 really limits the sharpness, since this means a nominal aperture of only f/9 it would be no contest in terms of sharpness, also we have to mention that the Mitutoyo 2x has a much smaller image circle then the Optikos 106.
Links:
Lensrentals/OLAF test bench using Optikos equipment:
https://wordpress.lensrentals.com/blog/2014/03/rogers-new-toy-needs-a-name/
Optikos Metrology: