Development of an Improved Coating Process for Military Mirrors

The objective of this proposal is to develop an improved coating process for beryllium mirrors for military applications. The beryllium mirrors require precision optical coatings for high reflectivity at desired wavelengths and environmental protection.The proposed work combines the coating development expertise and experience of UES and Battelle Pacific Northwest National Laboratories (PNNL). The coating requirements for beryllium mirrors for military applications will be identified and thedeposition/process equipment necessary for the development of desired coatings will be defined. The improved coating process is likely to be based on a combination of sputter deposition and electron beam evaporation with ion assistance.The coatings will be based on a metal coating and multilayer of high and low refractive index materials. The appropriate materials will be selected from the database of PNNL using computer simulation. The coated mirrors will be tested for opticalperformance and environmental durability. The major benefit of this new coating process and coating materials will be improved adhesion, and elimination of problems resulting from the current process such as run-to-run variability, and lack of processcontrol, thus saving cost of remediation. In addition to space-bound surveillance system for the military, the beryllium optics is useful for making components like mirrors, telescope metering structures, spectrometers, sensors, and subsystems for laseraltimetry, remote sensing, environmental monitoring, guidance and astronomy.