Null-screen design for highly freeform surface testing.

Abstract

A new alternative to calculate the null-screen for highly freeform or complex surfaces for any desired pattern to be observed on the detector is presented. To validate the proposed method, we used the Zernike polynomials to design complex surfaces with sagittas greater or equal to 40 mm, and peak to valley greater or equal to 30 mm, between the used surface and the best fit sphere. The freeform surfaces were fabricated using a 3D printer and a five-axis CNC machine. With the proposed method we can calculate the image that will be observed over the detector for any null-screen and any freeform surface that want to be analyzed. The results showed that the proposal works very well for extremely fast complex freeform surfaces (with slopes ≤ 80°), obtaining an error smaller than 0.66% in PV and 0.36% in rms in sagitta differences.