Optics Technologies for Cryogenic Sensors

Silicon Carbide (SiC) is a promising new material for optical substrates and structures for use in advanced cryogenic sensor systems. However conventional optical manufacturing technologies use abrasive-based grinding and polishing which leaves significant subsurface damage and residual stresses in the material. These residual stresses can lead to degradation of the optical performance of the system once it is deployed. We propose to demonstrate rapid damage-free shaping of lightweight aspheric SiC mirror substrates using Reactive Atom Plasma (RAP) processing. This novel technology allows for rapid and deterministic shaping of mirror surfaces while simultaneously removing the subsurface damage created during previous grinding steps.