Company

MLD MANUFACTURES HIGH PERFORMANCE OEM AND CUSTOM OPTICS FOR MEDICAL, AEROSPACE, DEFENSE, INDUSTRIAL AND SCIENTIFIC APPLICATIONS.

MLD was founded by Gary DeBell, Tony Louderback, and Len Mott in 1997. Today we are a company with more than thirty employees, including a dozen engineers, half of whom have advanced degrees in optics, physics or engineering. Our 24,000 square foot facility includes 7,000 square feet of clean-room manufacturing space. We serve the global optics community from our headquarters in Mountain View, California and our manufacturing facility in Eugene, Oregon.

We trace our heritage in optical technology to the laser developments and space programs of the 1960’s. MLD’s Tony Louderback co-invented the Ion Beam Sputtering (IBS) process for making the extremely low-loss mirrors required for ring-laser gyroscopes. Today we apply an advanced, proprietary version of IBS technology to the production of our optical coatings.

MLD Leadership

Gary DeBell
AB Physics, UC Berkeley; Ph.D. in Optics, University of Rochester, Institute of Optics; Fellow of the Optical Society of America; Fellow of SPIE. Over 40 years experience in the design and production of thin-film optics, optical components and optical instruments, including engineering and management positions at Spectra-Physics, where he became President of Spectra-Physics Optics Corporation. In 1991 he became an independent consultant in optical thin-film engineering and thin-film design software as the principal in DeBell Design. Gary has three patented inventions in the field of Laser Optics and more than two dozen technical publications and presentations in the field of Optical Thin Films.

Tony Louderback
BS, Long Beach State College. Over 45 years experience in the design and production of optical thin-films, including process engineering positions at Heron Optical, Infrared Industries, and Litton Systems. At Litton, he was the co-inventor and developer of their patented Ion Beam Sputtering process. In 1981 Tony founded Ojai Research, which became a major supplier of low loss mirrors to the Laser Gyro Industry. In 1997 Ojai’s assets and intellectual property were acquired by MLD Technologies. Tony has patented inventions in the fields of Ion Beam Sputtering, Multi-Layer Antireflection Coatings, UV Resistant Coatings and Optical Instruments.

Len Mott
BS, Hobart College; MBA and MS in Optical Sciences, University of Arizona. Over 40 years experience in the manufacture of optical thin-film components, including engineering and management positions at Perkin-Elmer, Spectra-Physics and Optical Coating Laboratory, Inc. At Spectra-Physics Optics Corporation he became Vice President, and at Optical Coating Laboratory, he was manager of High Volume Operations. Len has a patented invention in the field of wear-resistant optical coatings.