Active polishing of a 2mm thin shell for large adaptive secondary mirrors

E. Hugot; M. Ferrari; D. Fappani; R. Arsenault

doi:10.1117/12.671853

27 June 2006 Active polishing of a 2mm thin shell for large adaptive secondary mirrors

E. Hugot, M. Ferrari, D. Fappani, R. Arsenault

Proceedings Volume 6272, Advances in Adaptive Optics II; 62724Z (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.671853
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2006, Orlando, Florida , United States

Abstract

Large adaptive secondary mirrors are a promising solution for the next generation of high order adaptive optics systems and are under development in all major observatories. One of the key points of these systems is the manufacturing of the large glass thin shell, often convex aspheric, used as the 'mirror surface' and attached to the actuators. Due to the very tight surface quality specifications for high order or extreme adaptive optics systems (XAO), one of the major challenges is to avoid all high spatial frequencies errors during the manufacturing of these extremely thin convex hyperbolic shells. In order to achieve the required surface quality, we present an active optics technique based on elasticity theory and mirror polishing under constraints, allowing to easily generate highly aspheric optics, using only full size tools (spherical or flat), and avoiding such high spatial frequencies defects. The proposed original process for thinning, smoothing and polishing a large (1.1m) thin (2mm) shell has been modelled using finite elements method. The feasibility of this process is demonstrated. Results in terms of load optimization, evolution of stresses and constraints within the shell and expected surface optical quality are presented.

Citation Download Citation

E. Hugot, M. Ferrari, D. Fappani, and R. Arsenault "Active polishing of a 2mm thin shell for large adaptive secondary mirrors", Proc. SPIE 6272, Advances in Adaptive Optics II, 62724Z (27 June 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.671853

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