Low Cost Finishing of Optical Ceramics

A lower-cost ceramic dome constructed of ALON or Spinel would be extremely advantageous to the DOD in that a significant portion of the cost of an optical dome is created by the optical fabrication effort. Surmet Corp. is proposing a number of modifications to the ‘Synchronous’ fabrication method in order to meet the objective of decreasing the fabrication ‘touch’ labor by half. Some of these modifications include process ‘stream’ minimization via consolidation and new, innovative fixturing and tooling options. Additionally, Surmet will review the material abrasive ‘mechanism’ with the intent of aiding the process development and ensuring that the modified process does not detract from the ultimate strength of the finished product.