This paper summarizes some of QED Technologies′ latest developments in the field of high–precision polishing and metrology. Magneto–Rheological Finishing (MRF) is a deterministic sub–aperture polishing process. MRF has demonstrated the ability to produce optical surfaces with accuracies better than 30 nm peak–to–valley (PV) and surface micro–roughness less than 0.5 nm rms on a wide variety of optical glasses, single crystals, and glass–ceramics. The MR fluid forms a polishing tool that is perfectly conformal and therefore can polish a variety of shapes, including flats, spheres, aspheres. QED′s Sub–aperture Stitching Interferometer (SSI) complements MRF by extending the effective aperture, accuracy, resolution, and dynamic range of a phase–shifting interferometer. This workstation performs automated sub–aperture stitching measurements of spheres, flats, and mild aspheres. Aside from the correction of sub–aperture placement errors, our software also accounts for reference–wave error, distortion, and other aberrations. By addressing these matters up front, we avoid limitations encountered in earlier stitching work and significantly boost reproducibility beyond that of the integrated interferometer on its own.
抄録全体を表示