The positive meniscus directs a beam to one concentrated spot. A meniscus lens has one concave and one convex surface which enable a smaller beam diameter and hence, a reduction in spherical aberration and less beam waste when precision cutting or marking. The smaller spot size provided by the lens creates the same power output in a smaller area. To achieve the smallest possible spot size the concave side of the lens is mounted face down pointing towards the material being cut. Although meniscus lenses (right image) are more expensive when compared with Plano-Convex lenses (left image) the meniscus lens offers a higher accuracy of cut and hence, can increase cutting speeds by up to 5%.