Abstract
Modern day telescopes for astronomy have very complex requirements. Both ground and space based telescopes are getting much larger placing significant productivity requirements on the manufacturing processes employed. Conventional manufacturing paradigms involving mechanical abrasion have limitations related primarily to the material removal mechanisms employed. Reactive Atom Plasma (RAP<sup>TM</sup>) processing is a sub-aperture, non-contact, deterministic figuring technology performed at atmospheric pressures. The process has high material removal rates, and given the non-contact and atmospheric nature lends itself very well to scaling up for large aperture mirrors/segments. The process also benefits from its ability to simultaneously remove sub-surface damage (SSD) while imparting the desired figure to the surface. Developments are under way currently to scale the process up towards larger clear apertures while being able to figure in high spatial frequency features.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.