Innovative Optics Manufacturing

Optimax has developed a fabrication process that not only reduces cost but also aids in producing spherical sapphire components to better figure quality. 

This paper is an introduction to the specification and tolerancing of Mid-spatial frequency (MSF) ripple or waviness.

The cost of lenses is strongly dependent on the difference between the specified tolerances and the limits of the optics manufacturer, the coater, and the metrologist. 

The concept for polishing optical elements with a process called VIBE is presented, application to non uniformly sloped optics such as aspheric shapes is detailed, and initial results on spherical surfaces are presented. 

Two main paths for tolerancing spherical radii are power tolerance and linear radius tolerance. Both measure change relative to a nominal value, but the metrology used is the key difference. 

Monolithic multi-surface telescopes combined with freeform optical surfaces provide improvements in optical performance in a smaller footprint as compared to systems with spherical surfaces, while providing superior mechanical stability to traditional telescope assemblies