Innovative Coating Design to Shape Compliant Optics into a Parabolic Net-Shape

Triton Systems, Inc., a leader in materials development and processing has assembled a world-class team consisting of material analysis, modeling, and thin film coatings to address the critical design and fabrication requirements of large space-basedoptical telescopes. During the Phase I portion of the proposed Phase II program, this team has produced polymeric membranes and applied a stress coating to analysis the induced stresses in the polymeric membranes and compared the measured results with theresults from models. Using the data generated during the Phase I portion of this program, Triton's team will further study the effect of various coating methods and the variable coating parameters to develop an optical stress coating process to producenet shape parabolic membrane. The success of the proposed concept will provide a revolutionary approach to fabricating large, lightweight, space-based telescopes.