Testing of a diamond-turned off-axis parabolic mirror

Jan Burke; Kai Wang; Adam Bramble

doi:10.1117/12.793510

11 August 2008 Testing of a diamond-turned off-axis parabolic mirror

Jan Burke, Kai Wang, Adam Bramble

Proceedings Volume 7063, Interferometry XIV: Techniques and Analysis; 706312 (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.793510
Event: Optical Engineering + Applications, 2008, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Methods to test on-axis and off-axis parabolic mirrors are standard textbook fare. All we need, we are told, is a spherical wavefront and a plane mirror, or a plane wavefront and a spherical mirror. Contrasting with the implied ease of application, reports on practical experience with these tests are somewhat rare, particularly for off-axis mirrors. We have explored both variations of this testing method with a phase-shifting Fizeau interferometer, auxiliary components, and a one-inch diamond-turned 90° off-axis commercial-quality parabolic test mirror. The testing process is quick and easy only if you know how, and frustrating and time-consuming otherwise. We report on the calibration of the reference surfaces, present a detailed and systematic re-appraisal of the necessary steps for alignment and measurement validation, which have been described previously but in a less straightforward way, and present a brief characterization of the parabolic mirror that gives some insight into the diamond-turning process.

Citation Download Citation

Jan Burke, Kai Wang, and Adam Bramble "Testing of a diamond-turned off-axis parabolic mirror", Proc. SPIE 7063, Interferometry XIV: Techniques and Analysis, 706312 (11 August 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.793510

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