History

Acton Optics & Coatings’ legacy began in 1961, when we were founded as Acton Research Corporation. ARC was the first company to produce commercial VUV optical filters and has been a leading pioneer in the UV and excimer laser coatings market ever since. Among the many highlights of our illustrious half-century history is the utilization of ARC optics for various NASA endeavors in the 1970s, ‘80s, and ‘90s, including the Apollo/Soyuz mission, Viking and Freja space projects, and Cassini and Hubble missions.

In 1998, ARC and scientific camera manufacturer Princeton Instruments were both acquired by Roper Industries, a diversified growth company and a constituent of the S&P 500, Fortune 1000, and Russell 1000 indices. With Roper’s support, ARC earned ISO 9001 certification in 2003.

In 2006, ARC introduced lumogen detector enhancement coatings, and the following year we developed 193XL coatings for high-rep-rate laser systems. It was also in 2007 that ARC began operating under the Princeton Instruments banner as Acton Optics & Coatings.

Key technological developments by Acton Optics & Coatings include ±8 Å thickness control for Al+MgF2 coatings (2010) as well as the introduction of Magnum 193nm high-reflector coatings (2013), which have been third-party tested to >98.0% Rp and >99.0% Rs. Today, our primary emphasis continues to be on the research and development of cutting-edge optical technologies.​​​​​​​