Rapid optical fabrication with CCOS

Abstract

In the next decades, we foresee the need for the fabrication of many large asphenc mirrors for space and astronomy applications. Itek Optical Systems has developed computer controlled optical surfacing for rapidly fabricating such optics. Recently, these operations have been improved with the development of a sheaf of new processes based on a greatly increased understanding of the physics of glass surfacing. These improvements have already produced a reduction of large optics surfacing time and the technology points towards further reduction.