TELESCOPE OPTICS

UNDER A PREVIOUS NSF SBIR AWARD, SPIRE CORPORATION DEVELOPEDAN ION-BEAM DEPOSITION PROCESS FOR COATING METAL TOOL BITS WITH CUBIC BORON-NITRIDE. THESE CBN COATINGS WERE NEARLY ASHARD AS DIAMONDS, SCRATCH RESISTANT, AND TRANSPARENT TO THE NAKED EYE. THE COATING WAS SUCCESSFULLY APPLIED TO PYREX GLASS. THE RESEARCH PROPOSED HERE WOULD USE THE ORIGINAL APPARATUS TO DEPOSIT CBN COATINGS ON MATERIALS TYPICALLY USED FOR OPTICAL TELESCOPES, SUCH AS ALUMINUM OR SILVER EVAPORATED ONTO GLASS. THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THESE COATINGS WOULD BE MEASURED TO DETERMINE SCRATCH RESISTANCE. IF THIN CUBIC BORON-NITRIDE COATINGS PROVE FEASIBLE FOR HIGHQUALITY OPTICS, IN THAT THEY DO NOT DEGRADE THE SURFACE AND PROVIDE A SCRATCH RESISTANT SEAL AGAINST CHEMICAL DEGRADATION, THEN LARGE MIRRORS COULD BE COATED IN THE APPARATUS NOW BEING DESIGNED FOR TOOL BITS UNDER PHASE II OF THE EARLIER NSF PROGRAM.