Finishing of Conformal Optics in Hard Materials

Conformal optics is becoming increasingly important for military and commercial applications. New manufacturing methods are being developed through university, government and industry efforts. Unique finishing approaches are being investigated, some with more success than others, and each with specific limitations to overcome. Advancements in CNC motion control and multi-axis CAM Software, have greatly improved the deterministic micro grinding of atypical conformal optics. These new technologies allow once impossible shapes to be designed and transformed into machine tool code for the fine grinding process. After fine grinding, these conformal surfaces need to be highly finished while maintaining a precision surface figure. Materials such as AlON (Aluminum Oxynitride)with large grain structures, Sapphire,Spinel,deep concave surfaces, and mid spatial frequencies,render the existing finishing processes inadequate. There is a great need for a cost-effective optical finishing system for these problematic atypical conformal parts. This proposal will present the feasibility of applying a unique process for the ultra finishing of optics referred to herein as UFO. Research in the area of new compliant finishing tools utilizing a pressurized bladder concept in conjunction with removal functions, machine configuration, and optimized tool paths will be the key task areas of investigation.