Abstract
The float-polishing technique has been studied to determine its suitability for producing supersmooth surfaces on optical materials, yielding a roughness of <2 Å rms. An attempt was made to polish six different materials including fused quartz, Zerodur, and sapphire. The low surface roughness was achieved on fused quartz, Zerodur, and Corning experimental glass-ceramic materials, and a surface roughness of <1 Å rms was obtained on O-cut single-crystal sapphire. Presumably, similar surface finishes can also be obtained on Cer-Vit and ULE quartz, which could not be polished satisfactorily in this set of experiments because of a mismatch between sample mounting and machine configuration.
© 1987 Optical Society of America
Full Article | PDF ArticleMore Like This
S. F. Soares, D. R. Baselt, J. P. Black, K. C. Jungling, and W. K. Stowell
Appl. Opt. 33(1) 89-95 (1994)
Achim J. Leistner, Eric G. Thwaite, Frank Lesha, and Jean M. Bennett
Appl. Opt. 31(10) 1472-1482 (1992)
R. B. Mcintosh and R. A. Paquin
Appl. Opt. 19(14) 2329-2331 (1980)