CVC SiC: The Low Cost Pathway to High Performance, Lightweight Mirrors

The emergence of numerous DoD programs that involve optical tracking, surveillance, and directed energy technologies has created a critical need for high performance, lightweight, economical mirrors. This program will address an approach to deliver such optics in the 0.5m class using the CVC SiC technology. The CVC technology allows for rapid deposition of uniform, stress free, near net shape structures with exceptional optical performance and scalability. The first task of Phase I will be to deliver a mirror that will demonstrate a new paradigm for ultra lightweight SiC optics design. The second task will address the optimization of novel lightweight mirror designs, enabled by the CVC process, as it relates to processing strategies and backing structures to produce both flat and powered mirrors. The designs will be evaluated in terms of optical, mechanical, thermal, and harmonic properties, as well as weight, and cost. At the conclusion of Phase I, this program will have developed several mirror designs that will each reduce the cost of high quality optical structures. In Phase II, low cost, high performance optical mirrors structures in the 500 mm range selected from the Phase I designs will be fabricated.