A new approach to laser polishing and form correction of optical components

Abstract

The increasing variety of optical components and materials, combined with stricter surface tolerance requirements, necessitate refining existing polishing processes and developing innovative new polishing solutions and metrology technologies. A fast, reproducible laser polishing process would offer considerable economic benefits over conventional mechanical polishing processes and interest a broad variety of optics manufacturers. In this work, a holistic approach is taken to address the various aspects of glass polishing and form correction via a novel laser polishing system design, the use of a measurement strategy that can be integrated inline and simulation results that are correlated with process parameter studies for different materials.