Modern optical designs often include components with shapes more complicated than simple spherical and plano
surfaces. These shapes, which include conformal, steep concave, stepped and free form surfaces, are often difficult to
finish with conventional techniques due to mechanical interference and steep local slopes. A suitable approach to
polishing these shapes is to use a jet of fluid containing an appropriate abrasive. However, a fundamental property of a
fluid jet is that it will begin to lose its coherence once it exits the nozzle. This instability results in an unpredictable
removal rate of the fluid jet, which makes it unsuitable for use in a deterministic finishing process. A method of jet
stabilization whereby a jet of magnetorheological (MR) fluid is magnetized by an axial magnetic field when it flows
from the nozzle has been demonstrated and implemented into the Magnetorheological Jet (MR JetTM) finishing process.
The magnetically stabilized jet of MR polishing fluid produces a stable and reproducible material removal function
(polishing spot) at a distance of several tens of centimeters from the nozzle making MR Jet an attractive technology for
the finishing of complex shapes such as free form optics, steep concaves, and cavities. Recent results will be presented
showing the ability to use this technology to finish a variety of shapes and materials including glass, metals, and
ceramics.
The final finish and characterization of windows and domes presents a number of difficult challenges. Furthermore,
there is a desire to incorporate conformal shapes into next generation imaging and surveillance systems to provide
significant advantages in overall component performance. Unfortunately, their constantly changing curvature and steep
slopes make fabrication of such shapes incompatible with most conventional polishing and metrology solutions. Two
novel types of polishing technology, Magnetorheological Finishing (MRF®) and Magnetorheological Jet (MR JetTM),
along with metrology provided by the Sub-aperture Stitching Interferometer (SSI®) have several unique attributes that
give them advantages in enhancing fabrication of hemispherical domes and even conformal shapes.
The advantages that MRF brings to the precision finishing of a wide range of shapes such as flats, spheres (including
hemispheres), cylinders, aspheres and even freeform optics, has been well documented. The recently developed MR Jet
process provides additional benefits, particularly in the finishing the inside of steep concave domes and other irregular
shapes. Combining these technologies with metrology techniques, such as the SSI, provides a solution for finishing
current and future windows and domes. Recent exciting developments in the finishing of such shapes with these
technologies will be presented. These include new advances such as the ability to use the SSI to characterize a range of
shapes such as domes and aspheres, as well as progress in using MRF and MR Jet for finishing conventional and conformal windows and domes.
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