Super Polished Coronagraph Mirrors

Coronagraph optics require a level of super polishing not yet achieved by any optical manufacturing approach for mirrors optimized for space use, with significant and varying curvature, and large enough for the Habitable Worlds Observatory. Optimax intends to extend years of robotic smoothing and polishing development to manufacture these super polished optics to the extremely stringent specifications required by the next generation of space instrumentation. By merging manufacturing know-how with an investigation of novel force- and active component combinations for robotic smoothing, Optimax will strive to reach a 3 Å RMS surface roughness criteria with correlation lengths in the range of 10-50 µm as specified in the solicitation. In the first Phase, Optimax will investigate smoothing techniques in light of material properties, geometry (including compensation for light weighted optics and differential deflection during polishing), and tool/ slurry modification to demonstrate the desired optical surface outcome. Additionally, fabrication and metrology techniques will be assessed in light of the correlation length requirement, which is relatively new to the optics manufacturing environment. These outcomes will be assessed for scalability to optics of larger geometry during Phase II and beyond, moving toward the 1-3.5 m segments expected for the Habitable Worlds Observatory.