Bracara Photonics
Open Studio

Engineering flat optics

Design flat optics yourself. We make them.

Six years of flat optics research, built into software you can learn in an afternoon. Design and optimize your optic in Bracara Studio, then get it fabricated to spec.

Start designing How it works
Bracara Studio with a vortex beam design: the phase plate and the propagated beam in 3D, and the ring-shaped focus on the screen views.

Fabrication-aware inverse design

What you simulate is what you get.

Studio's inverse design knows how we fabricate. It explores the whole fabrication parameter space to find the design that reaches the performance your experiment needs, and that our process can make.

First time right.

We built the tools we needed in the lab.

We are experimentalists. Over six years we turned our own design code and fabrication processes into models we trust. Bracara Studio is that work, made easy to learn.

Read our story

6 years
of flat optics design and fabrication research, across several well-funded research projects
2%
mean squared error from design to device topographyF. Camarneiro et al., J. Phys. Photonics (2026)
8
peer-reviewed papers and conference contributions, listed here

From a single sample to small batches. To spec, no surprises.

We fabricate in the INL cleanroom, a state-of-the-art micro and nanofabrication facility in Braga, with the same processes our models were built on. Order one device or a short production run. On request, we characterize each device against your specification before it ships.

  1. Request a quote
  2. Design review
  3. Fabrication
  4. Delivery
Request a quote
Close-up of fabricated diffractive optics on a wafer: axicons, lenses and holograms side by side.
Axicons, lenses and holograms from one multi-project wafer
  • A fabricated flat lens held in a gloved hand, imaging the INL sign on the building behind it.

    Imaging diffractive optics

  • A wafer of flat lenses and holograms held up in the cleanroom's yellow light.

    Multi-project wafer

  • A wafer with an array of fabricated diffractive lenses, held in a gloved hand.

    From single sample to short productions

  • Microscope image of the pixels of a fabricated hologram.

    Hologram pixels under the microscope

From first simulation to fabricated part.

Subscriptions Compute, storage and tools for designing

Fabrication Open to every plan

Explore

Learn the flat optics design workflow.

Free

  • Starter compute, short-run jobs
  • Apertures up to 200 × 200 px
  • Full-volume screens
  • Ephemeral workspace storage
  • Library of design examples
  • pyMOE script export
  • Community support
Start designing

Pro Coming soon

For researchers and engineers shipping real designs.

Subscription based

  • 100× the compute, long-running jobs
  • High-resolution apertures
  • Parallel jobs on a priority queue
  • Persistent storage and run history
  • Design versioning and sharing
  • API and Python SDK access
  • Direct SLM optimization
  • Design assistant Early access
  • Email support
Request early access

Lab

For research groups, institutes and R&D teams.

Per team · academic pricing

  • Dedicated compute pool, highest priority
  • Largest apertures, day-long jobs
  • Seats managed by your organization
  • Shared projects and storage
  • Versioning with authoring
  • Single sign-on and activity log
  • Invoice, PO and grant-friendly billing
  • Onboarding with our optics engineers
Talk to us

Fabrication

Get the physical device matching your design.

From single prototypes to small runs

  • Fabrication-aware optimization: what you simulate is what you get
  • Engineer review of your design
  • From design to device, without additional foundry contracts
  • Made in our facilities with our established processes
  • Device characterization to spec
Get a quote

Questions

Who owns my designs?

You do. We use your designs only to run your jobs and, when you order, to fabricate your device.

Can I fabricate somewhere else?

Yes. Export the design spec, phase and height maps, or a pyMOE script and take them to your own fab. Mask files are available on request.

What is free?

The Explore plan: small apertures, limited weekly compute, every propagator and the examples. No card needed.

How does ordering work?

Request a quote from Studio with your design. We review it for fabrication, send you a quote, fabricate it at INL and deliver it. Characterization to your specification is available on request. You can order a single sample.

Do you offer academic terms?

Yes. The Lab plan has academic and industry terms. Write to hello@bracara-photonics.com.

Where do I get help with Studio?

Write to support@bracara-photonics.com.

Bring us your target. Leave with a device.

Open Studio, load an example and press run. When it works on screen, we make it real.

Start designing