Computer Controlled Optical Surfacing of Bare Beryllium Aspheric Optics

Tinsley Laboratories, a subsidiary of SSG Inc., has developed a deterministic Computer Controlled Optical Surfacing (CCOS) process. Over the last 25 years, this process has demonstrated the capability to produce state-of-the-art aspheric optics, including extensive work with bare Beryllium aspheric reflectors. The objective of the work proposed here is to optimize and improve this process for bare Beryllium optics, with a goal of reducing the aspheric optical polishing time by > 2x. Increased efficiency, and reduced costs, are key drivers as next generation astronomical and earth observing applications are being driven to larger and larger telescope apertures. Beryllium optics are a key technology for these large aperture system designs, due to the material?s high specific stiffness and aggressively lightweighting capabilities. The process optimization that we propose will make Beryllium optics more cost effective for these applications, in this way allowing system designs to benefit from the superior bulk material properties associated with the material. In the Phase I work proposed the CCOS process optimization will be demonstrated by the polishing of a number of bare Beryllium witness samples.