Developments in Precision Asphere Manufacturing

The increased use of aspheres in today's optical systems has led to specialized manufacturing equipment and processes that are needed to meet component specifications. Due to their sub-aperture nature, each stage of these processes can leave behind a signature that could adversely affect the asphere's overall performance. Utilizing a variety of grinding and polishing techniques can help minimize residual artifacts that are left in an asphere. OptiPro has performed extensive process development work to understand how to grind and polish aspheres at production speeds with minimized process signatures. For example, the amount of stock removed from a substrate using a sub aperture polishing process can increase the amount of mid-spacial frequencies that can be detected. Through precise grind control, sub aperture, and mid-aperture polishing process research, OptiPro developed a detailed knowledge of asphere process control. One of the outcomes of this work has led OptiPro to develop an asphere polishing head for their 160A polishing platform which allows more process flexibility and control.