This PDF file contains the front matter associated with SPIE Proceedings Volume 9575 including the Title Page, Copyright information, Table of Contents, Introduction, and Conference Committee listing.

120° silicon double mirrors for use in a novel micro optical resonator laser gyroscope have been developed in order to maximize the robustness of the sensor design against alignment errors. The idea being pursued is that the angle between these two mirrors can be intrinsically defined by silicon crystallography which enables a well-defined resulting reflection angle that is robust against mirror misalignment. As a consequence, resonator losses resulting from misalignment can be minimized. This work describes the concept of a new type of optical micro-gyroscope with double mirrors and its design. The mirrors are made from silicon wafers which are slightly deviating from perfect (100) orientation and thus allow to create <111> facets oriented 60° against the surface instead of 54,7° by wet etching. Two likewise structured wafers are connected by silicon direct bonding and separated into double mirror elements. These elements are mounted on a test platform to assess the quality and to confirm the suitability of a gyroscope. In this setup various possible misalignments were simulated. The experiments confirm the predicted misalignment robustness.

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a 6.5m, segmented, IR telescope that will explore the first light of the universe after the big bang. In 2014, a major risk reduction effort related to the Alignment, Integration, and Test (AI and T) of the segmented telescope was completed. The Pathfinder telescope includes two Primary Mirror Segment Assemblies (PMSA’s) and the Secondary Mirror Assembly (SMA) onto a flight-like composite telescope backplane. This pathfinder allowed the JWST team to assess the alignment process and to better understand the various error sources that need to be accommodated in the flight build. The successful completion of the Pathfinder Telescope provides a final integration roadmap for the flight operations that will start in August 2015.

In 2014, the Optical Ground Support Equipment was integrated into the large cryo vacuum chamber at Johnson Space Center (JSC) and an initial Chamber Commissioning Test was completed. This insured that the support equipment was ready for the three Pathfinder telescope cryo tests. The Pathfinder telescope which consists of two primary mirror segment assemblies and the secondary mirror was delivered to JSC in February 2015 in support of this critical risk reduction test program prior to the flight hardware. This paper will detail the Chamber Commissioning and first optical test of the JWST Pathfinder telescope.

By utilizing the Hydrogen-Lyman-α (HLA) source at 121.6 nm, we hope to achieve an intrinsic resolution of 247 nm at 0.3 numerical aperture (NA) and 92 nm at 0.8 NA. The motivation for 121.6 nm microscopy is the existence of a transparent window in the air absorption spectrum at that wavelength, which allows for the sample to be in air while the microscope is in an enclosed nitrogen environment. The microscope objective consists of two reflective optics and a LiF window, and it has been designed to demonstrate diffraction limited performance over a 160μm full field at 121.6 nm. The optomechanical design consists of mechanical subcells for each optical component, precision spacers and a barrel bore, which allow for submicron control of tolerance parameters.

The manufacture of the next generation of large astronomical telescopes, the extremely large telescopes (ELT), requires the rapid manufacture of greater than 500 1.44m hexagonal segments for the primary mirror of each telescope. Both leading projects, the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) and the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), have set highly demanding technical requirements for each fabricated segment. These technical requirements, when combined with the anticipated construction schedule for each telescope, suggest that more than one optical fabricator will be involved in the delivery of the primary mirror segments in order to meet the project schedule. For one supplier, the technical specification is challenging and requires highly consistent control of metrology in close coordination with the polishing technologies used in order to optimize production rates. For production using multiple suppliers, however the supply chain is structured, consistent control of metrology along the supply chain will be required. This requires a broader pattern of independent verification than is the case of a single supplier. This paper outlines the metrology requirements for a single supplier throughout all stages of the fabrication process. We identify and outline those areas where metrology accuracy and duration have a significant impact on production efficiency. We use the challenging ESO E-ELT technical specification as an example of our treatment, including actual process data. We further develop this model for the case of a supply chain consisting of multiple suppliers. Here, we emphasize the need to control metrology throughout the supply chain in order to optimize net production efficiency.

Ultra-high precision machining is used intensively in the photonics industry for the production of various optical components. Aluminium alloys have proven to be advantageous and are most commonly used over other materials to make various optical components. Recently, the increasing demand from optical systems for optical aluminium with consistent material properties has led to the development of newly modified grades of aluminium alloys produced by rapid solidification in the foundry process. These new aluminium grades are characterised by their finer microstructures and refined mechanical and physical properties. However the machining database of these new optical aluminium grades is limited and more research is still required to investigate their machinability performance when they are diamond turned in ultrahigh precision manufacturing environment. This work investigates the machinability of rapidly solidified aluminium RSA 905 by varying a number of diamond-turning cutting parameters and measuring the surface roughness over a cutting distance of 4 km. The machining parameters varied in this study were the cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut. The results showed a common trend of decrease in surface roughness with increasing cutting distance. The lowest surface roughness R_a result obtained after 4 km in this study was 3.2 nm. This roughness values was achieved using a cutting speed of 1750 rpm, feed rate of 5 mm/min and depth of cut equal to 25 μm.

Optical aluminium alloys such as 6061-T6 are traditionally used in ultra-high precision manufacturing for making optical mirrors for aerospace and other applications. However, the optics industry has recently witnessed the development of more advanced optical aluminium grades that are capable of addressing some of the issues encountered when turning with single-point natural monocrystalline diamond cutters. The advent of rapidly solidified aluminium (RSA) grades has generally opened up new possibilities for ultra-high precision manufacturing of optical components. In this study, experiments were conducted with single-point diamond cutters on rapidly solidified aluminium RSA 443 material. The objective of this study is to observe the effects of depth of cut and feed rate at a fixed rotational speed on the tool wear rate and resulting surface roughness of diamond turned specimens. This is done to gain further understanding of the rate of wear on the diamond cutters versus the surface texture generated on the RSA 443 material. The diamond machining experiments yielded machined surfaces which are less reflective but with consistent surface roughness values. Cutting tools were observed for wear through scanning microscopy; relatively low wear pattern was evident on the diamond tool edge. The highest tool wear were obtained at higher depth of cut and increased feed rate.

Following formal acceptance by ESO of three 1.4m hexagonal off-axis prototype mirror segments, one circular segment, and certification of our optical test facility, we turn our attention to the challenge of segment mass-production. In this paper, we focus on the role of industrial robots, highlighting complementarity with Zeeko CNC polishing machines, and presenting results using robots to provide intermediate processing between CNC grinding and polishing. We also describe the marriage of robots and Zeeko machines to automate currently manual operations; steps towards our ultimate vision of fully autonomous manufacturing cells, with impact throughout the optical manufacturing community and beyond.

In this paper, the influence on the image quality of manufacturing residual errors was studied. By analyzing the statistical distribution characteristics of the residual errors and their effects on PSF and MTF, we divided those errors into low, middle and high frequency domains using the unit “cycles per aperture”. Two types of mid-frequency errors, algorithm intrinsic and tool path induced were analyzed. Control methods in current deterministic polishing process, such as MRF or IBF were presented.

Smoothing is a convenient and efficient way to correct mid-spatial-frequency errors. Quantifying the smoothing effect allows improvements in efficiency for finishing precision optics. A series experiments in spin motion are performed to study the smoothing effects about correcting mid-spatial-frequency errors. Some of them use a same pitch tool at different spinning speed, and others at a same spinning speed with different tools. Introduced and improved Shu's model to describe and compare the smoothing efficiency with different spinning speed and different tools. From the experimental results, the mid-spatial-frequency errors on the initial surface were nearly smoothed out after the process in spin motion and the number of smoothing times can be estimated by the model before the process. Meanwhile this method was also applied to smooth the aspherical component, which has an obvious mid-spatial-frequency error after Magnetorheological Finishing processing. As a result, a high precision aspheric optical component was obtained with PV=0.1λ and RMS=0.01λ.

For 10 years there has been the asphere as one of the new products to be accepted by the market. All parts of the chain design, production and measurement needed to learn how to treat the asphere and what it is helpful for. The aspheric optical element now is established and accepted as an equal optical element between other as a fast growing part of all the optical elements. Now we are focusing onto the next new element with a lot of potential, the optical freeform surface. Manufacturing results will be shown for fully tolerance optic including manufacturing, setup and optics configurations including measurement setup. The element itself is a monolith consisting of several optical surfaces that have to be aligned properly to each other. The freeform surface is measured for surface form tolerance (irregularity, slope, Zernike, PV).

Freeform surfaces on optical components have become an important design tool for optical designers. Non-rotationally symmetric optical surfaces have made solving complex optical problems easier. The manufacturing and testing of these surfaces has been the technical hurdle in freeform optic’s wide-spread use. Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) optics manufacturing technology has made the fabrication of optical components more deterministic and streamlined for traditional optics and aspheres. Optimax has developed a robust freeform optical fabrication CNC process that includes generation, high speed VIBE polishing, sub-aperture figure correction, surface smoothing and testing of freeform surfaces. Metrology of freeform surface is currently achieved with coordinate measurement machines (CMM) for lower resolution and interferometry with computer generated holograms (CGH) for high resolution irregularity measurements.

Characterizing surface roughness is important for predicting optical performance. Better measurement of surface roughness reduces polishing time, saves money and allows the science requirements to be better defined. This study characterized statistics of average surface roughness as a function of polishing time. Average surface roughness was measured at 81 locations using a Zygo^® white light interferometer at regular intervals during the polishing process. Each data set was fit to a normal and Largest Extreme Value (LEV) distribution; then tested for goodness of fit. We show that the skew in the average data changes as a function of polishing time.

The Decadal Survey stated that an advanced large-aperture ultraviolet, optical, near-infrared (UVOIR) telescope is required to enable the next generation of compelling astrophysics and exoplanet science; and, that present technology is not mature enough to affordably build and launch any potential UVOIR mission concept. Under Science and Technology funding, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and Exelis have developed a more cost effective process to make up to 4m monolithic spaceflight UV quality, low areal density, thermally and dynamically stable primary mirrors. Under a Phase I program, a proof of concept mirror was completed at Exelis and tested down to 250K at MSFC which would allow imaging out to 2.5 microns. In 2014, Exelis and NASA started a Phase II program to design and build a 1.5m mirror to demonstrate lateral scalability to a 4m monolithic primary mirror. The current status of the Phase II development program will be provided along with a Phase II program summary.

When building an optical system, optical fabricators and designers meticulously choose the glass types for their application knowing that each one will have different chemical, thermal and mechanical properties. As the requirements for new optical systems have grown more demanding, the range of available glass types has vastly expanded and the specifications on the produced products have grown tighter. In an attempt to simplify processes and streamline consumable purchases, optical polishing houses often rely on one polishing slurry to manage these vast array of glass types. An unforeseen consequence of these practices can be a reduction in productivity by reduced removal rate, poor yields and frequent rework all translating into higher costs and reduced profitability. In this paper, the authors will examine the impact slurry pH has on glass types of different compositions and chemical, thermal and mechanical properties when using a double-sided polishing process. Experiments will use material removal rate, surface quality, and surface figure to provide insight into improving process control for differing glass types. Further guidance will be provided on how simple on-site monitoring and adjustment can deliver improved profitability on challenging substrates.

Today, CVD SiC mirrors are readily available in the market. However, it is well known to the community that the key surface fabrication processes and, in particular, the material removal characteristics of the CVD SiC mirror surface varies sensitively depending on the shop floor polishing and figuring variables. We investigated the material removal characteristics of CVD SiC mirror surfaces using a new and patented polishing tool called orthogonal velocity tool (OVT) that employs two orthogonal velocity fields generated simultaneously during polishing and figuring machine runs. We built an in-house OVT machine and its operating principle allows for generation of pseudo Gaussian shapes of material removal from the target surface. The shapes are very similar to the tool influence functions (TIFs) of other polishing machine such as IRP series polishing machines from Zeeko. Using two CVD SiC mirrors of 150 mm in diameter and flat surface, we ran trial material removal experiments over the machine run parameter ranges from 12.901 to 25.867 psi in pressure, 0.086 m/sec to 0.147 m/sec in tool linear velocity, and 5 to 15 sec in dwell time. An in-house developed data analysis program was used to obtain a number of Gaussian shaped TIFs and the resulting material removal coefficient varies from 3.35 to 9.46 um/psi hour m/sec with the mean value to 5.90 ± 1.26(standard deviation). We report the technical details of the new OVT machine, of the data analysis program, of the experiments and the results together with the implications to the future development of the OVT machine and process for large CVD SiC mirror surfaces.

Precision optical components are usually machined by grinding and polishing in several steps with increasing accuracy. Spherical surfaces will be finished in a last step with large tools to smooth the surface. The requested surface accuracy of non-spherical surfaces only can be achieved with tools in point contact to the surface. So called mid-frequency errors (MSFE) can accumulate with zonal processes. This work is on the formation of surface errors from grinding to polishing by conducting an analysis of the surfaces in their machining steps by non-contact interferometric methods. The errors on the surface can be distinguished as described in DIN 4760 whereby 2nd to 3rd order errors are the so-called MSFE. By appropriate filtering of the measured data frequencies of errors can be suppressed in a manner that only defined spatial frequencies will be shown in the surface plot. It can be observed that some frequencies already may be formed in the early machining steps like grinding and main-polishing. Additionally it is known that MSFE can be produced by the process itself and other side effects. Beside a description of surface errors based on the limits of measurement technologies, different formation mechanisms for selected spatial frequencies are presented. A correction may be only possible by tools that have a lateral size below the wavelength of the error structure. The presented considerations may be used to develop proposals to handle surface errors.

The effect of deep HF etching on the surface quality and figure of fused silica optics has been investigated systematically. Fused silica samples (100 mm in diameter x 10 mm thick) were manufactured using the conventional grinding and polishing process. These processed samples are etched with different removal depth. Initially, the surface quality of fused silica samples is characterized in terms of surface roughness and surface defects. Many digs not more than 1μm deep are emerged which originates from the micron grinding cracks and crack pits. These digs worsened the surface roughness and frosted the sample. While submillimeter subsurface damage exposed through etching appear as sparkling dots under the high power lamp. The average total length of millimeter scratches on single surfaces is over 200 mm. Not all millimeter scratches could be exposed until removal depth of up to 2 μm. Finally, the surface figure behavior during deep etching has also been figured out. Etching on the edge of the upper surface of samples placed horizontally went faster than on the inside parts. The surface of samples placed vertically assumed a more complicated removal distribution, which can be both explained in terms of "fringe tip effect". For the change of surface figure PV, the initial surface figure feature plays an important role as well as the etching removal distribution.

The stressed lap on the Large Polishing Machine (LPM) at the University of Arizona Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab has recently been used to polish the M1 and M3 surfaces of the 8.4-m mirror for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). Loadcells in the three 4-bar links that connect this lap to the spindle of the machine allow the translational forces and torque on the lap to be measured once a second. These force readings and all other available machine parameters are recorded in history files that can be used to create a 2D removal map from one or more polishing runs. While the Preston equation has been used for many years to predict removal in a conventional polishing process, we have adopted a new equation that assumes that removal is proportional to the energy that is transferred from the lap to the substrate via friction. Specifically, the instantaneous removal rate at any point is defined to be the product of four parameters – an energy conversion factor which we call the Allen coefficient, the coefficient of friction, the lap pressure, and the speed of the lap. The Allen coefficient is the ratio of volumetric removal to frictional energy for a particular combination of pad material, abrasive, and substrate. Because our calculations take into account changes in the coefficient of friction between the lap and mirror, our 2D removal maps usually correlate well with optical data. Removal maps for future polishing strokes are created in simulations that track the position and speed of individual lap pads.

Molds made of tungsten carbide are typically used for the replicative mass production of glass lenses by precision glass molding. Consequently an ultra-precision grinding process with a subsequent fresh-feed polishing operation is conventionally applied. These processes are time consuming and have a relatively low reproducibility. An alternative manufacturing technology, with a high predictability and efficiency, which additionally allows a higher geometrical flexibility, is the single point diamond turning technique (SPDT). However, the extreme hardness and the chemical properties of tungsten carbide lead to significant tool wear and therefore the impossibility of machining the work pieces in an economical way. One approach to enlarge the tool life is to affect the contact zone between tool and work piece by the use of special cutting fluids. This publication emphasizes on the most recent investigations and results in direct machining of nano-grained tungsten carbide with mono crystal diamonds under the influence of various kinds of cutting fluids. Therefore basic ruling experiments on binderless nano grained tungsten carbide were performed, where the tool performed a linear movement with a steadily increasing depth of cut. As the ductile cutting mechanism is a prerequisite for the optical manufacturing of tungsten carbide these experiments serve the purpose for establish the influence of different cutting fluid characteristics on the cutting performance of mono crystal diamonds. Eventually it is shown that by adjusting the coolant fluid it is possible to significantly shift the transition point from ductile to brittle removal to larger depths of cut eventually enabling a SPDT of binderless tungsten carbide molds.

During continuous polishing, temperature is a significant source of processing uncertainty. Three work pieces of different kind material (K9, Nd:glass and ULE) were polished on 2.4m continuous polisher. It turns out that temperature difference has different influence on different material work pieces. It also indicates that temperature difference aggravates the processing uncertainy. The deformation caused by temperature difference is simulated using ANSYS. It shows that, with top-bottom temperature difference of 0.1°C, the deformation of Nd:glass, K9 and ULE are 0.444E^-6 m (about 0.7025λ), 0.249E-6 m (about 0.3925λ ), and 0.105E^-8 m (about 0.00166λ), respectively. With radial temperature difference of 0.1°C, the deformation of Nd:glass, K9 and ULE are 0.831E^-7 m (about 0.1313λ), 0.465E^-7 m (about 0.07348λ) and 0.196E^-9 m (about 3.0973E^-4λ), respectively. To explore the top-bottom temperature difference and radial temperature difference along the polishing surface, a small aperture Nd:glass and a large aperture Nd:glass in polishing have been measured using thermal infrared imager. The results showed that for Ø 260 mm × 26 mm Nd: glass, the radial temperature difference is about 0.1°C, while the top-bottom temperature difference is about 0.1°C ~ 0.21°C. Contrastively, for 810 mm×460 mm×40 mm Nd:glass, the radial temperature difference have reached 0.4°C, while top - bottom temperature difference ranges between 0.1°C ~ 0.27°C. When element gets larger, it will suffer greater temperature difference. These temperature differences are great enough to cause deformation far beyond the polishing accuracy required. Finally, methods are proposed to diminish the effect of temperature difference.

Subaperture stitching is a popular method for extending small, subaperture interferometer measurements to cover largeaperture optics. The method is simple in that there are only two steps: 1) make multiple measurements across the surface and 2) use well-established software techniques to merge the individual measurements into one surface estimate. Because parts of the system must move between measurements, small misalignments between subapertures are unavoidable, but easily accommodated within the software. Unfortunately this process has the potential to introduce errors. In this work, we show how random noise in a circular ring of subapertures creates artifacts in low-order surface shape estimates. The magnitude of these errors depends on setup parameters such as the number of subapertures and their overlap, as well as the measurement noise within a single subaperture. Understanding the relationships between subaperture stitching configuration and surface artifacts is important when designing high-accuracy metrology systems which rely on subaperture stitching. This work will help metrology system designers incorporate subaperture stitching into error budgets and tolerances.

The subaperture stitching interferometry is a technique suitable for testing high numerical-aperture optics, large-diameter spherical lenses and aspheric optics. In the stitching process, each subaperture has to be placed at its correct position in a global coordinate, and the positioning precision would affect the accuracy of stitching result. However, the mechanical limitations in the alignment process as well as vibrations during the measurement would induce inevitable subaperture position uncertainties. In our previous study, a rotational scanning subaperture stitching interferometer has been constructed. This paper provides an iterative algorithm to correct the subaperture position without altering the interferometer configuration. Each subaperture is first placed at its geometric position estimated according to the F number of reference lens, the measurement zenithal angle and the number of pixels along the width of subaperture. By using the concept of differentiation, a shift compensator along the radial direction of the global coordinate is added into the stitching algorithm. The algorithm includes two kinds of compensators: one for the geometric null with four compensators of piston, two directional tilts and defocus, and the other for the position correction with the shift compensator. These compensators are computed iteratively to minimize the phase differences in the overlapped regions of subapertures in a least-squares sense. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method works to the position accuracy of 0.001 pixels for both the single-ring and multiple-ring configurations. Experimental verifications with the single-ring and multiple-ring data also show the effectiveness of the algorithm.

The usual definition for BRDF assumes that the illuminated surface is isotropic. This is why when the primary source of scatter is a surface pit or particle the differential scattering cross-section is used to quantify scatter. In these cases the DSC is independent of changes in illumination spot size and thus is a more meaningful characterization than the measured BRDF. The same thing is true for other situations. These include scatter from isolated scratches, non-isotropic roughness (such as a rolled surface) and scatter from the edge or corner of a surface. In these situations the measurements may be done differently and the quantified scatter often has different units – such as area/sr or 1/deg instead of the common 1/sr associated with BRDF. If the data is being taken for use in one of the stray radiation codes this can cause problems because those codes require BRDF as an input. This paper reviews these situations for both measurement and analysis issues.

Applying reactive ion beam etching (RIBE) processes at the Leibniz Institute of Surface Modification (IOM), several reference samples to be used in industry for calibrating of roughness testing equipment have been generated with the smoothest sample featuring 0.1 nm rms Sq. Subsequently these reference samples have been measured cross-site applying atomic force microscopy (AFM), white light interferometry (WLI), Nomarski¹ microscopy (NM) and scatterometry (iTIRM²) determining the appropriate range of measurable rms surface roughness for each industrial measuring device.

The Software Configurable Optical Testing System (SCOTS) is one of the newest testing methods for large mirror surfaces. The Integrated Ray Tracing (IRT) technique can be applicable to the SCOTS simulation by performing non-sequential ray tracing from the screen to the camera detector in the real scale. Therefore, the radiometry of distorted pattern images are numerically estimated by the IRT simulation module. In this study, we construct an IRT SCOTS simulation model for the Fast Steering Mirror Prototype (FSMP) surface of the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT). GMT FSMP is an off-axis ellipsoidal concave mirror that is 1064 mm in diameter and has PV 3.1 mm in aspheric departure. The surface error requirement is less than 20 nm rms. The screen is modeled as an array of 1366 by 768 screen pixels of 0.227 mm in pitch size. The screen is considered as a Lambertian scattering surface. The screen and the camera are positioned around 4390 mm away from the mirror and separated by around 132 mm from each other. The light source are scanning lines and sinusoidal patterns generated by 616,050 rays per one screen pixel. Of the initially generated rays, 0.22 % are received by the camera’s detector and contribute to form distorted pattern images. These images are converted to the slope and height maps of the mirror surface. The final result for the height difference between input surface and reconstructed surface was 14.14 nm rms. Additionally, the simulated mirror pattern image was compared with the real SCOTS test for the GMT FSMP. This study shows applicability of using the IRT model to SCOTS simulation with nanometer level numerical accuracy.

In recent years, transparent display is an emerging topic in display technologies. Apply in many fields just like mobile device, shopping or advertising window, and etc. Electrowetting Display (EWD) is one kind of potential transparent display technology advantages of high transmittance, fast response time, high contrast and rich color with pigment based oil system. In mass production process of Electrowetting Display, oil defects should be found by Automated Optical Inspection (AOI) detection system. It is useful in determination of panel defects for quality control. According to the research of our group, we proposed a mechanism of AOI detection system detecting the different kinds of oil defects. This mechanism can detect different kinds of oil defect caused by oil overflow or material deteriorated after oil coating or driving. We had experiment our mechanism with a 6-inch Electrowetting Display panel from ITRI, using an Epson V750 scanner with 1200 dpi resolution. Two AOI algorithms were developed, which were high speed method and high precision method. In high precision method, oil jumping or non-recovered can be detected successfully. This mechanism of AOI detection system can be used to evaluate the oil uniformity in EWD panel process. In the future, our AOI detection system can be used in quality control of panel manufacturing for mass production.

SCOTS (Software Configurable Optical Test System) is a high-precision slope measurement technique based on deflectometry. It utilizes a well-calibrated commercial LCD screen and a diffraction-limited camera to provide high dynamic range, non-contact and full-field metrology of reflective/refractive optics of high accuracy but low cost. Recently, we applied this metrology method on the fabrication of the primary mirror of Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST), which is a 4.2 meter off-axis parabolic segment with more than 8 mm peak-to-valley aspheric departure. Sophisticated calibrations and compensations including camera mapping, screen nonlinearity and screen shape deformation are performed to achieve high accuracy measurement results. By measuring the mirror at different orientations, non-symmetrical systematic errors are eliminated. The metrology system also includes dual cameras that provide self- verification test. The measurement results are being used to guide the fabrication process.

The testing of highly aspheric optics often requires complex test arrangements: these test systems can be multi-element and will have both fabrication and alignment errors present in the test wavefront. It may not be feasible to calibrate such systems with conventional optical shop practice. The use of diffractive imitator optics, with carefully controlled fabrication uncertainties, can be used to characterise these systems. We describe the use of reflective imitator CGH optics as calibration artefacts in the calibration of an optical test system used to test ELT primary mirror segments. The optical test system is designed to have two operational modes: one to measure a spherical reference optic; and one to measure the primary mirror segment. The use of diffractive imitators in this test system is designed to provide traceability between these two operational configurations, to quantify residual alignment aberrations, and to quantify fabrication errors in the test system. We outline the design of the optical test system, the design of three imitator CGH artefacts required to provide traceability between the two optical test modes, and our calibration approach. We demonstrate the calibration performance achieved with this approach. Without the use of these imitator artefacts, the absolute accuracy of the optical test is estimated to be 149 nm RMS wavefront, of which 47 nm RMS is attributed to midspatial wavefront errors and 141 nm RMS is attributed to alignment and prescription errors. The repeatability of this calibration has been established as better than 3 nm wavefront standard deviation, with an absolute accuracy of 19 nm RMS wavefront.

The metal mirror has been widely used in optical application for a longtime. Especially the aluminum 6061 is often considered the preferred material for manufacturing optical components for ground-based astronomical applications. One reason for using this material is its high specific stiffness and excellent thermal properties. However, a large amount of data exists for this material and commercially available aluminum 6061 using single point diamond turning (SPDT) and polishing process can achieve surface roughness values of approximately 2 to 4 nm, which is adequate for applications that involve the infrared spectral range, but not for the shorter spectral range. A novel aluminum material, fabricated using a rapid solidification process that is equivalent to the conventional aluminum 6061 alloy grade has been used in optical applications in recent years because of its smaller grain size. In this study, the surface quality of the rapid solidification aluminum after single point diamond turning and followed by magnetorheological finish (MRF) process is investigated and compared with conventional aluminum 6061. Both the surface roughness Ra was evaluated using white light interferometers. Finally, indicators such as optimal fabrication parameter combination and optical performance are discussed.

The Laser MégaJoule (LMJ) is a French high power laser project that requires thousands of large optical components. The wavefront performances of all those optics are critical to achieve the desired focal spot shape and to limit the hot spots that could damage the components. Fizeau interferometers and interferometric microscopes are the most commonly used tools to cover the whole range of interesting spatial frequencies. Anyway, in some particular cases like diffractive and/or coated and/or aspheric optics, an interferometric set-up becomes very expensive with the need to build a costly reference component or a specific to-the-wavelength designed interferometer. Despite the increasing spatial resolution of Fizeau interferometers, it may even not be enough, if you are trying to access the highest spatial frequencies of a transmitted wavefront for instance. The method we developed is based upon laser beam diffraction intermediate field measurements and their interpretation with a Fourier analysis and the Talbot effect theory. We demonstrated in previous papers that it is a credible alternative to classical methods. In this paper we go further by analyzing main error sources and discussing main practical difficulties.

This work presents a method of determination of internal parameters of an optical system of a classical cemented doublet. The method is noninvasive and parameters are calculated from noncontact measurements without any damage or dismantling of the doublet.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is noncontact and nondestructive interferometric method which allows visualization of internal structure of an investigated sample. Till now it has found many applications in measurements of biological tissues, technical materials and conservation of art. Optical coherence tomography in full-field configuration is a great technique for visualization of subsurface structures of measured sample with high resolution. In this technique, en-face data acquisition is applied, which allows application of microscope objectives with high numerical aperture while the depth of field is not a problem. These objectives allow obtaining ultra high transverse resolution like in traditional microscopy. Additionally, light sources with broad spectrum, like low cost incandescent lamps (i.e. halogen lamp), allow measurements with micrometer scaleaxial resolution. In this paper the authors present application of full-field optical coherence tomography with a Linnik microscope for the thickness measurement of layers in flexible display with electrodes made of graphene and carbone nanotubes. Thicknesses of layer have a huge impact on the display parameters. There is a correlation between the thickness of the graphene layer and its electrical resistance. Graphene is a new and very promising material which is durable, flexible and has a good adhesion to diverse substrates. It gives a theoretical possibility to create flexible electronics, such as graphene bendable screens. Using OCT we can evaluate the quality of printed layers and detect subsurface defects.

We have obtained a formula to represent the wavefront produced by a plano-convex aspheric lens with symmetry of revolution considering a plane wavefront propagating parallel to the optical axis and impinging on the refracting surface, it is called a zero-distance phase front, being it the first wavefront to be out of the optical system. Using a concept of differential geometry called parallel curves it is possible to obtain an analytic formula to represent the wavefront propagated at arbitrary distances through the optical axis. In order to evaluate qualitatively a plano-convex aspheric lens, we have modified slightly an interferometer Tywman-Green as follow: In the reference beam we use a plane mirror and the beam of test we have used a spatial light modulator (SLM) to compensate the phase produced by the lens under test. It will be called a null phase interferometer. The main idea is to recombine both wavefronts in order to get a null interferogram, otherwise we will associate the patterns of the interferogram to deformations of the lens under test. The null phase screens are formed with concentric circumferences assuming different gray levels printed on SLM.

In order to evaluate either qualitative or quantitatively the shape of fast plano-convex aspheric lenses, a method to design null screens type Hartmann is proposed. The null screens are formed with non-uniform spots, which allows to have uniform images at detection's plane. The screens are printed on a foil sheet and placed in front of the lens under test, they are illuminated with a collimated monochromatic beam propagating along the optical axis, in such a way that through the process of refraction will form a uniform spot patterns which are recorded at a predefined plane of detection. Finally, processing properly its image recorded we could be able to get a quantitative evaluation of the lens under test. The designs of these null screens are based on the equations of the caustic surface produced by refraction. A preliminary test for a fast plano-convex aspheric lens with F=# = 0:8 is presented in this work. This method could also be applied to alignment of optical systems.