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News

Papers, product releases, awards and events, newest first. For how the company got here, see our story.

Upcoming · 6 to 8 October

VISION 2026, Stuttgart

Hall 8, Stand E60.19 (Start-up World) at Messe Stuttgart. Our stand in Start-up World, a talk on the Industrial VISION Days stage, and a live Fovea Stacking demo.

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Upcoming · 23 to 24 November

6th Day of Intravital Microscopy, Bonn

Sponsor at DZNE, Venusberg campus. Two days of talks, workshops and round tables on imaging living tissue, with a dedicated adaptive optics workshop on the programme.

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2026

  1. events Phaseform sponsors the 6th Day of Intravital Microscopy Phaseform is a sponsor of the 6th Day of Intravital Microscopy, the annual meeting of the intravital microscopy workgroup of German BioImaging (GerBI-GMB).
  2. papers Laser writing in materials with a shaped Delta 7 beam A Freie Universität Berlin / HTW Berlin team writes erasable luminescence patterns into perovskite films with a 405 nm beam shaped by the Delta 7 — a new field for the DPP: laser writing in materials. Published open access in Optical Materials 180 (2026) 118465.
  3. news Phaseform goes to VISION Stuttgart Phaseform is at VISION 2026 in Stuttgart, 6 to 8 October, Hall 8, Stand E60.19 in Start-up World — with two talks and a live Fovea Stacking demo.
  4. news Two new distribution partners: Photon Lines and Aladdin Optics Photon Lines Ltd now represents Phaseform in the UK and Ireland, and Aladdin Optics brings Delta 7 and PHI to laboratories in the United States. Both offer local sales, demos and support.
  5. news · papers Delta 7 Adaptive Optics for Enhanced Light-Sheet Microscopy at ICFO, Barcelona Two Delta 7 wavefront modulators in a custom light-sheet microscope at the SLN Lab, ICFO Barcelona — one in illumination, one in detection — resolving pig sperm-tail morphology that aberrations had obscured.
  6. awards PHI shortlisted for the Photonics Frontiers Award 2026 PHI, our plug-and-play adaptive optics platform for microscopes, was one of three finalists in the Biophotonics & Medical Applications category of the Photonics Frontiers Award 2026, presented at Optatec in Frankfurt.
  7. events · news Phaseform on Tour: ICFO Barcelona 🇪🇸 A visit to ICFO, the Institute of Photonic Sciences in Barcelona: lab tours, and a live exhibit of PHI, Phinden and the Delta 7 for the ICFOnian community.
  8. papers Machine-learning-based open-loop control of the Deformable Phase Plate A proceedings paper from SPIE Photonics West 2026: a gradient boosting model learns the nonlinear inverse mapping of the DPP and brings open-loop wavefront error below 20 nm RMS.
  9. news Complete Adaptive Optics kit via Axiom Optics Axiom Optics has added a turnkey adaptive-optics kit built around Phaseform’s Delta 7 refractive wavefront modulator, paired with an Imagine Optic HASO wavefront sensor and WaveTune™ adaptive optics software.
  10. news Delta 7-20: a 20 mm clear aperture The Delta 7-20 doubles the clear aperture to 20 mm and raises maximum stroke past 10 µm, with native M32 threading so an objective mounts straight onto it. Introduced at SPIE Photonics West 2026.
  11. papers PHI at SPIE Photonics West 2026: high-order correction and remote focusing At SPIE BiOS 2026, Pouya Rajaeipour presented a modular adaptive optics extension that fits between camera port and sensor: a Deformable Phase Plate for in-line correction, a tunable lens for remote focusing, and sensorless image-based wavefront estimation.
  12. press Phaseform article in the first worldwide edition of LP.PRO The first worldwide edition of the trade magazine LP.PRO features an article by Phaseform CEO Stefan Weber on scalable adaptive optics for eye diagnostics and life science microscopy.

2025

  1. papers Fovea Stacking: a DPP camera that corrects aberrations region by region KAUST researchers presented Fovea Stacking at SIGGRAPH Asia 2025: a Deformable Phase Plate in front of a simple lens corrects aberrations one region at a time, and a stack of captures yields an image sharp across the whole field.
  2. awards Photonics100 for Phaseform's CTO We’re proud to share that our CTO Pouya Rajaeipour has been named to The Photonics100 2026 by Electro Optics! This recognition continues a tradition at Phaseform, with Stefan Weber honored in the very first Photonics100 back in 2023.
  3. news ERC Synergy Grant for Phaseform co-founder Çağlar Ataman Dr. Çağlar Ataman, co-founder of Phaseform and inventor of the Deformable Phase Plate, has secured a €10 million ERC Synergy Grant for optical catheters that combine diagnosis, biopsy and therapy of pancreatic cancer.
  4. news Phinden: sensorless adaptive optics, released Phinden measures aberrations from the frames a microscope already acquires and corrects them through a Deformable Phase Plate — no wavefront sensor. Now commercially available, with five integrations.
  5. news PHI: adaptive optics through the camera port PHI mounts on the camera port of a commercial microscope and adds aberration correction and motionless 3D focusing, without modifying the microscope. First shown at Focus on Microscopy 2025 in Taipei.
  6. news Phaseform Partners with Axiom Optics to Expand Sales into North America Freiburg, Germany and Somerville, MA, USA – March 6th, 2025 – Phaseform, a leader in adaptive optics technology, is expanding its North American presence through a partnership with Axiom Optics. As Phaseform’s official distributor in the US and Canada, Axiom will help meet the growing demand for advanced adaptive optics solutions in scientific and medical imaging.
  7. news · papers DPP Technology Enables First-Ever Adaptive Optics in Confocal Raman Microscopes Phaseform’s Delta 7 Deformable Phase Plate is ushering in a new era of precision for Confocal Raman Microscopy (CRM): By seamlessly correcting aberrations, researchers can now probe deeper and faster — without compromising resolution or sample health. Confocal Raman Microscopy (CRM) reveals molecular information without labels or dyes.
  8. news DPP integration with ScanImage MBF Bioscience and Phaseform are delighted to announce a breakthrough collaboration that integrates Phaseform’s advanced Adaptive Optics (AO) solutions into MBF Bioscience’s renowned ScanImage software for multiphoton and laser scanning microscopes. This joint development opens the door for researchers across neuroscience, developmental biology, cancer research, and other fields to achieve unmatched image clarity and depth, all while preserving their existing microscopy workflows.

2024

  1. news · papers Plug-and-play adaptive optics with full-field correction A modular plug-and-play AO attachment from IMTEK, University of Freiburg: a 63-electrode DPP close to the objective, the field split into isoplanatic patches that are corrected one by one and stitched into a full-field corrected image. Published in Optics Express.
  2. news · papers Conjugate adaptive optics extension for commercial microscopes Alex Dorn, Hans Zappe and Çağlar Ataman at IMTEK, University of Freiburg present the first conjugate adaptive optics extension for commercial microscopes: a retrofit module with Phaseform’s DPP in the conjugate plane that corrects field-dependent aberrations across a large field of view. Published in Advanced Photonics Nexus.
  3. news · papers New Horizons for Microscopy with DPP Two publications extending adaptive optics past the isoplanatic patch: a conjugate AO extension that retrofits to a commercial microscope, and full-field correction by field segmentation.
  4. press · papers Contributing to Innovations in Modern Optics Design Proud to be cited in the latest 4/2024 PhotonicsViews Technology report: “Innovations and Challenges in Modern Optical Design” which presents a broad overview of key technological advancements and emerging challenges in optical system design. The report covers several key components of modern optical design, including ray tracing, wave optics, optimization algorithms, multiphysics simulation, 3D modeling, and high-performance computing (HPC).
  5. news New distribution partner in China: Shanghai Ray Sense Shanghai Ray Sense Technology joins Phaseform's worldwide distribution network, serving medical, industrial and scientific customers in China.
  6. news · awards €6M in EIC Accelerator funding Freiburg, Germany — July 16, 2024. Phaseform GmbH, an innovative leader in adaptive optics technology, announces that it has been awarded over €6M in funding from the highly competitive EIC Accelerator programme. This funding will propel the company’s groundbreaking technology, Deformable Phase Plates (DPP), towards advancing optical imaging capabilities in ophthalmology and microscopy.

2023

  1. news New distribution partner in South Korea: Samwoo Science Samwoo Science becomes Phaseform's distributor for the Republic of Korea, covering advanced imaging and optical technologies.
  2. news · papers Tailored laser pulses for polarization enhanced two-photon excited fluorescence contrasts of dyes Researchers from the Freie Universität Berlin have recently published their findings on "Polarization enhanced two-photon excited fluorescence contrast by shaped laser pulses using a deformable phase plate" in Applied Optics Vol. 62, No. 31 on 1 November 2023. This pioneering study sheds light on the use of spatially and temporally shaped laser pulses to significantly enhance the fluorescence contrast in imaging dyes — a breakthrough with profound implications for biophotonic applications.
  3. news New distribution partner in Japan: Autex Inc. Autex Inc. represents Phaseform in Japan, bringing Deformable Phase Plate technology to optics and photonics customers across the country.
  4. news · papers Ophthalmoscopy white paper In its latest white paper, Phaseform discusses the use of Deformable Phase Plates (DPP), an innovative optofluidic microsystem technology, to improve ophthalmic imaging by combining the advantages of deformable mirrors and transmissive liquid crystal spatial light modulators into compact and efficient AO systems. The human eye, a marvel of evolution, is a multilayered structure of unique complexity.
  5. press Interview in Electro Optics magazine In a recent interview with Electro Optics magazine, Dr. Stefan Weber, CEO and Co-Founder of Phaseform, shared his thoughts on the future of photonics research, the challenges ahead, his personal journey, and the state of the industry.
  6. news Unleash Optical Design Possibilities with the DPP Digital Model The Deformable Phase Plate as a Dynamic Link Library for Ansys Zemax OpticStudio: a User Defined surface driven in Zernike or in voltage space, built on the measured response of a real device, that hands back the electrode voltages to apply on the bench.
  7. news · papers More potential for multi-photon microscopy with DPP We are excited to announce the publication of a research paper, titled "Optofluidic adaptive optics in multi-photon microscopy," in the Biomedical Optics Express journal. Our team worked in collaboration with the Institute for Biomedical Physics, Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria, led by Prof. Alexander Jesacher, and the Microsystems for Biomedical Imaging Laboratory at the IMTEK of the University of Freiburg, Germany.

2022

  1. awards Photonics100 Award for Stefan Weber Our CEO and co-founder Dr. Stefan Weber has been named one of The Photonics100 2023, Electro Optics' list of the industry's most innovative people.
  2. news · awards Wolfgang-Gentner Award for Pouya Rajaeipour We are delighted to report that our CTO and co-founder Dr. Pouya Rajaeipour received the Wolfgang-Gentner Young Scientist Award based on his dissertation on "Optofluidic Adaptive Optics – Systems and Methods" from the IMTEK of the University of Freiburg.
  3. press Interview in LP.PRO Our co-founder and CEO, Dr. Stefan Weber, was recently interviewed by the German magazine LP.PRO (issue 5/22, page 10) on how Adaptive Optics could become the future standard in life science microscopy.
  4. news · awards Reaching U.S. with German Accelerator Phaseform was selected as a participant in the renowned German Accelerator U.S. Market Access class 2022-4! We can't wait to join them in Silicon Valley, the #1 global startup hub to kick off our U.S. expansion! German Accelerator is enabling German startups to go global with a fast-paced learning journey in the world's leading innovation hubs. Highly tailored to the individual needs of the participants, their programmes enable startups to access international markets and achieve rapid success.
  5. news €1.1M seed round for Phaseform Phaseform closes a €1.1 million seed round with private investors and MBG Baden-Württemberg, to scale up manufacturing of its Deformable Phase Plate product line.
  6. news Latest Landmark of Adaptive Optics We are proud to be featured in Optics and Photonics News' historical summary of the developments in Adaptive Optics, with our Deformable Phase Plate, allowing "cascading wavefront modulators" as the latest landmark of adaptive optics: "Scientists first used adaptive optics in microscopy in 1999 for tip–tilt correction. Since then, some systems have employed active, shape-shifting elements such as deformable mirrors or liquid-crystal spatial light modulators to correct for aberrations.

2021

  1. news · awards Finalists at SPIE Startup Challenge We're happy to report that we were among the finalists in the SPIE Startup Challenge — one of the most esteemed competitions for photonics startups!
  2. news · awards Second place in the CyberOne Hightech Award Phaseform took second place in the CyberOne Hightech Award Baden-Württemberg, the leading business plan contest for the high-tech industry. Named a finalist in the category Life Sciences & Health in July 2021, the team went on to receive the prize at the award ceremony on 19 October 2021 at the Hospitalhof in Stuttgart, from the Minister of Economic Affairs Dr. Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut.
  3. awards EPoSS Start-up Award for Phaseform Phaseform won the EPoSS Award. EPoSS, the European Technology Platform on Smart Systems Integration, is an industry-driven policy initiative that recognizes start-ups every year, at every stage of development, for concepts, ideas or business cases.
  4. news EXIST Phase II for Phaseform team Phaseform has just obtained EXIST Phase II as part of the German/EU-funded EXIST Transfer of Research grant. The EXIST Transfer of Research programme supports outstanding research-based start-up projects that involve extensive and risky developments.
  5. papers Next-gen DPP featured on JOM title page The next generation of our Deformable Phase Plate (DPP) is featured on the cover page of the Journal of Optical Microsystems, a Gold Open Access journal published by SPIE that focuses on cutting-edge research in all aspects of optical and photonic microsystems. The latest issue of the journal showcases significant advancements of our DPP technology, and some of its unique properties.
  6. news · awards Freiburger Innovationspreis for Phaseform team Phaseform won the "Freiburger Innovationspreis" (Freiburg Innovation Award) 2021! We are very happy to have been chosen for this very special award for exemplary, original, and innovative achievements in the development of new products, processes, services and business models in the Freiburg region. The main selection criteria for the award were the degree of innovation, marketability, future viability as well as the economic significance of the submitted competition entries.
  7. news · papers Cascading DPPs for extended range and fidelity We are very happy to announce that our recent paper: "Cascading optofluidic phase modulators for performance enhancement in refractive adaptive optics" has made it on the title page of SPIE, the international not-for-profit professional society for optics and photonics technology.

2020

  1. news IMTEK spin-off Phaseform GmbH founded Phaseform GmbH was founded as the official spin-off of the EXIST transfer of research project to commercialize development work in the field of optofluidic adaptive optics.
  2. news · papers DPP technology enables larger FoV for wide-field microscopy Our team has published a new paper in OSA's journal Applied Optics, demonstrating a novel method for extending the correctable FoV by AO for microscopy.
  3. news · papers World's smallest AO fluorescence microscope using DPP technology In an article in Optics Express, we describe a simple practical application of our Deformable Phase Plate: a miniaturized fluorescence microscope, which can even be considered the "World's Smallest AO Microscope". In this work we have combined our refractive Ultra-Thin Deformable Phase Plate with a Sensorless Wavefront Aberration Estimation algorithm and demonstrate diffraction-limited imaging of synthesized samples in a fully refractive AO microscope.
  4. news Project start of EXIST transfer of research Together with the European Social Fund, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) is co-financing our EXIST Transfer of Research project within the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Freiburg. Our team at the Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK) has developed a novel, transmissive optofluidic component for adaptive optics.
  5. news · papers Combining deformable mirrors and DPPs for multi-conjugate AO Our colleagues from the Dynamic Optics and Photonics Group at the University of Oxford, UK presented their first results using our transmissive Deformable Phase Plate (DPP) to implement multi-conjugate adaptive optics (MCAO) at the Photonics West 2020 conference. MCAO is an effective solution to overcome the limited Field-of-View due to field-dependent aberrations (size of the isoplanatic patch) by using multiple wavefront modulators.

2019

  1. news Team obtains funding to commercialize optofluidic AO prototype With a successful pitch in front of an international jury of experts, the team has secured the EXIST transfer of research funding! The prestigious EXIST transfer of research grant supports outstanding research-oriented projects that involve expensive and high-risk resource development. It funds the development work to prove the technical feasibility of research-based start-up ideas and supports the necessary preparations for the launch of a start-up.