Zhengzhou, China — July 2026 — With Western warehouse germanium prices exceeding $6,000/kg and supply constrained by export licensing, material yield has become the dominant cost factor in infrared lens production. Vimfun's closed-loop endless diamond wire saws address the largest single source of loss in the process: kerf.

Conventional blade slicing of germanium ingots consumes 1.5–2.0 mm of material per cut. Vimfun's endless diamond wire, running at up to 80 m/s with wire diameters from 0.35 mm, produces a kerf of approximately 0.45 mm. For a typical 8 mm lens blank, that reduces material consumed per slice from roughly 10 mm to 8.45 mm—about 18% more blanks from the same ingot. At current germanium prices, the wire saw can pay for itself in saved material within the first production year for mid-volume IR optics manufacturers.
The closed-loop design also affects cut quality. Because the welded wire loop travels in one direction—rather than reciprocating—there are no direction-reversal marks on the cut surface, and subsurface damage is reduced. Blanks come off the saw closer to final geometry, shortening downstream grinding and lapping time.

"Two years ago, kerf loss was a line item. Today it decides whether an IR optics program is profitable," said Levy, sales engineer at Vimfun. "Customers who used to ask about cutting speed now ask about grams of germanium saved per ingot."

The germanium ingot cutting series handles ingots up to 400 mm, with a cutting tolerance of ±0.03 mm. Machines include automatic wire tensioning, wire-break shutdown, and touchscreen CNC control, and are CE compliant. The same platform cuts silicon, ZnSe, ZnS, and chalcogenide glass, allowing IR optics manufacturers to consolidate blank preparation on one machine.
Vimfun (Zhengzhou Shine Smart Equipment Co., Ltd.) manufactures endless diamond wire saws and precision grinding and polishing equipment for hard and brittle materials, serving optics, semiconductor, and advanced ceramics customers in more than 20 countries

https://www.endlesswiresaw.com/germanium-lens-manufacturing/