ApertureAPI designs compact holographic measurement heads and the reconstruction software behind them: software-defined interferometric metrology for surface inspection and quantitative phase imaging, built from catalogue parts and open, documented mounts.
Start with a defined measurement task, a reference sample and an evaluation plan.
CAD render, design values; front door, lid and light sleeve shown translucent for illustration; the laser is off whenever the door is open. Concept render stage; hardware qualification planned.
Reconstruction software available for technical evaluationInstrument development programHow to buy: paid pilot, then purchase
The product
One product in development.
The bench surface profiler: the H1 reflection head on the D1 desk stand. One sensor, one lens, one measurement task at a time. The head carries the sensor, the fiber-fed source and the reference path in one sealed enclosure; the stand is a column, a head carriage and a 150 x 150 mm stage behind a lift-off front door, like a small drill press. Nothing is built or measured yet; every number below is a design value.
01 / REFLECTION · BENCH
Bench surface profiler (H1 head on the D1 stand)
The product in development — $12,900, second-wavelength option +$2,400
Two ways to measure. In the lens mode the head looks down at a 150 x 150 mm stage behind a lift-off front door and measures the form of matte, machined, printed, anodised or ceramic parts: a field of about 50 × 39 mm at about 0.1 mm lateral sampling, with height by the same holographic phase rule as the dock. It is not a microscope. In the dock mode a lensless dock clips under the head for polished and mirror-like parts such as wafers, optics and flats: about 5.7 × 4.3 mm per shot at about 10 µm lateral. Smooth surfaces resolve height below a micrometre; surfaces rougher than about 0.16 µm need the second-wavelength option for a deterministic form map. Ordinary indoor light is fine in both modes; window daylight with the shroud and its door seated; direct sun on the stage is not supported. Laser safety: designed as a Class 1 laser product in both modes: the measurement zone is closed on four sides by a light shroud with a lift-off front door, and the laser enables only when the door and back wall are seated and the nose or dock is present. Open the door and the beam is off; a robot lifts the door between captures. Research and industrial-QA unit, not certified, not medical. Software and ninety days of onboarding included. Parts cost is a design value; the first unit has not been built; the price is an offer, not a quote book.
Portfolio — configurations after the first product qualifies
The same H1 head on a belt flange as an inline inspection head for a repeatable part position; a lensless transmission phase module for slides, flow cells and microfluidic chips; and an optical computing card that uses the same optical core for computation, which stays in research and is not for sale. None of these is priced or scheduled until the bench surface profiler has passed its qualification lanes.
An open standard, assembled from parts you can buy
Every head and mount is designed around catalogue optics, electronics and a purchasable or printed enclosure, with no custom machining. The assembly guide is written so a lab can build its own unit. The head is designed so the operator runs the reference capture; the procedure will be timed on the first build (lane 3). Parts lists and drawings are shared during a technical evaluation.
Technical evaluation
Evidence that fits the decision.
The evaluation compares a defined configuration with an agreed reference. Software checks and physical measurements are documented separately, and nothing is published as a specification until it has been measured.
Define
Agree on the specimen, field of view, required performance, cycle time and reference method before any capture is taken.
Measure
Record the capture conditions and configuration. Compare results with the reference, repeat the measurement, and capture the failure cases deliberately.
Decide
Review the results, the complete-device cost and the integration requirements against the acceptance criteria agreed in step one.
How to buy
Paid pilot, then purchase.
We do not sell measurement by the token. You run a free bounded benchmark on your own frames, then milestone-paid pilot engineering of your part on our demo configuration with a signed readout, and both milestones are credited in full to the instrument you buy. Every unit after the first is built to order on a deposit; there is no inventory and no quote book.
The ladder
Phase 0 — free bounded benchmark. Up to about twenty of your frames, one reference, one pass/fail threshold agreed before we run, ten business days.
Phase 1 — paid pilot engineering, $4,800 in two milestones. M1 $2,400 on signing: build and bench acceptance of the demo configuration for your task. M2 $2,400 at the signed readout, with acceptance criteria fixed before the first capture. Milestone-paid development, not a fee; credited in full to the instrument.
Phase 2 — the instrument. The bench surface profiler (H1 head on the D1 stand) $12,900; second-wavelength option +$2,400. Software and ninety days of onboarding included. Fifty percent on order, balance on delivery.
Custom work. The $10,000 software and $25,000 hardware design partnerships remain for labs that need something built around them.
What a pilot readout contains
Raw and processed data with the configuration and reference record.
Reference comparison, repeated-measurement results, failure maps and an uncertainty discussion appropriate to the task.
A demonstration of installation, reference check, sample loading and output inspection.
A complete-unit parts list with its remaining manufacturing dependencies.
A written recommendation: buy, repeat one bounded test, or close.
Research and industrial-QA units
Not certified, not medical. A second station for the queue, beside the instrument you already trust.
Built to order
Fifty percent on order, the balance on delivery. Lead time is stated on the order, not promised on this page.
Price, not quote book
Parts cost is a design value; the first unit has not been built; every price here is an offer that may change before the first unit ships.
Cost model: parts (design value) + founder engineering hours (to be timed on the first build) + calibration time + rework + support hours + patent prosecution (five applications, counsel, '478 revival) + commercial + hosting (unmeasured). Development cost is unproven until the first timed build; the price holds until then.
No accuracy guarantee: the acceptance criteria are agreed before capture, and the readout is how both parties find out. ApertureAPI is a solo-founder company; the pilot is scoped so that one engineer and your evaluator can run it end to end.
Integration
Built around the instrument workflow.
The development program defines capture interfaces, qualified head profiles and recorded processing settings. The reconstruction service accepts an off-axis or inline hologram with its optical parameters and returns amplitude, phase and a height map with the evidence record attached. Evaluation records identify the capture, the optical configuration and the software version for review and repeat processing under the recorded numerical conditions.
Tell us what you need to measure, the part or specimen involved and the workflow it must fit. We will scope the next technical discussion around that task.
