Byeongjoon Jeong

Fabrication of electroless nickel plated aluminum freeform mirror for an infrared off-axis telescope

Freeform mirrors can be readily fabricated by a single point diamond turning (SPDT) machine. However, this machining process often leaves mid-frequency errors (MFEs) that generate undesirable diffraction effects and stray light. In this work, we propose a novel thin electroless nickel plating procedure to remove MFE on freeform surfaces. The proposed procedure has a distinct advantage over a typical thick plating method in that the machining process can be endlessly repeated until the designed mirror surface is obtained. This is of great importance because the sophisticated surface of a freeform mirror cannot be optimized by a typical SPDT machining process, which can be repeated only several times before the limited thickness of the nickel plating is consumed. We will also describe the baking process of a plated mirror to improve the hardness of the mirror surface, which is crucial for minimizing the degradation of that mirror surface that occurs during the polishing process. During the whole proposed process, the changes in surface figures and textures are monitored and cross checked by two different types of measurements, as well as by an interference pattern test. The experimental results indicate that the proposed thin electroless nickel plating procedure is very simple but powerful for removing MFEs on freeform mirror surfaces.

Removal of diamond turning marks with magneto-rheological finishing

A magneto-rheological finishing (MRF) process for the post-treatment of diamond turning is presented to remove the periodic micro structures and sub-surface damages with improvement of the original figure and surface roughness. An off-axis aspherical mirror with electro-less nickel-phosphorus plated surface was machined by a Single point diamond turning machine (SPDTM) and MRF polisher. The machined surfaces were examined by a scanning low-coherence interferometer, and the technique of Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) and Power Spectrum Density (PSD) were introduced to evaluate the residual diamond turning marks on the turned and polished surfaces. The turning marks, which was clearly visible on the diamond turned surface, were absolutely removed after MR process, and the surface roughness of the machined surface was improved from 6 nm(Sa) and 7 nm (Sq) to 2 nm(Sa) and 3 nm (Sq). Consequently, the experimental results indicate that MRF is suitable for removing periodic micro-patterns caused by diamond turning process with the progress of the original figure and surface roughness.

Study on a magneto-rheological removal process of periodic turning marks

Single Point Diamond Turning (SPDT) has the potential to cost-effectively manufacture optical materials such as metals and plastic types. However, SPDT generally leaves tool marks on the machined surfaces, which creates problems that can deteriorate the optical performance. Several processes have been studied to eliminate the tool marks caused by SPDT, but it was difficult to carry out without the additional defects like sub-surface damages and other tool marks. To overcome this weakness, we investigated the Magneto-Rheological Finishing (MRF) process to effectively remove the periodic micro structures without surface deterioration for optical performance. The workpiece used in the experiment is a mirror plated with electroless nickel-phosphorus. Through the processing of the SPDT, an initial surface gets periodic tool marks, which have a height of 1.1 μm and a pitch of 20 μm. We studied on the reduction rate of the turning marks by the MRF process with some different conditions of uniform removal. The quantitative analysis of the surface roughness and residual marks was performed using a scanning low-coherence interferometer and through the Power Spectral Density (PSD) respectively. The results showed that reduction rates of tool marks depend on the angles (0, 45, and 90 degs) between the turning direction of the tool marks and the rotation direction of MR wheel. In the case of 45 degs, it indicated the fastest reduction rate.

Micro-Crack Analysis from Ultra-Precision Diamond Turning of IR Optic Material

Infrared (IR) optic lens can be fabricated by a single point diamond turning (SPDT) machine without subsequent polishing process. However, this machining process often leaves microcracks that deteriorate the surface quality. In this work, we propose an experimental design to remove micro-cracks on IR lens. The proposed design gathered data between cutting process condition and Rt surface roughness. This is of great importance because the scale of microcracks is a few micrometer. Rt surface roughness is suitable for analyzing maximum peak height signals of the profile. The experimental results indicate that feed per revolution variable is one of the most dominant variable, affecting the generation micro-cracks on IR lens surfaces.