Elfego Ruiz

Destruction of the Environment of the BN-KL Nebula

Resumen en: We present the velocity structure of the 2.12 micron H2 emission in Orion, obtained with an IR Fabry-Perot interferometer with a spectral resolution of 2...

Deterministic convergence in iterative phase shifting

Previous implementations of the iterative phase shifting method, in which the phase of a test object is computed from measurements using a phase shifting interferometer with unknown positions of the reference, do not provide an accurate way of knowing when convergence has been attained. We present a new approach to this method that allows us to deterministically identify convergence. The method is tested with a home-built Fizeau interferometer that measures optical surfaces polished to lambda/100 using the Hydra tool. The intrinsic quality of the measurements is better than 0.5 nm. Other possible applications for this technique include fringe projection or any problem where phase shifting is involved.

Surface roughness results using a hydrodynamic polishing tool (HyDra)

HyDRa is a hydrodynamic radial polishing tool ideal for the corrective lapping and fine polishing of diverse materials by means of an accelerated abrasive flux. The roughness of an optical surface is analysed for a continuous manufacturing process, beginning with the basic generation steps up to a finished optical surface. These results were obtained using a Linnik interferometer.

HyDRa: polishing with a vortex

We present a hydrodynamic, deterministic polishing tool (HyDRa) based on the fluid-jet polishing (FJP) principle. In contrast to other FJP methods, the polishing flux is accelerated with pressurized air and then expelled at high velocity, forming a radial, grazing abrasive pattern that exerts no net force of the tool on the surface to be polished, since the vacuum and thrust forces that are created at the tools output balance each other out. The grazing effect minimizes microroughness, making it appropriate for finishing high-quality surfaces. The principle of operation as well as polishing results of a series of small etalon plates are presented.

HyDRa: control of parameters for deterministic polishing

Deterministic hydrodynamic polishing with HyDRa requires a precise control of polishing parameters, such as propelling air pressure, slurry density, slurry flux and tool height. We describe the HyDRa polishing system and prove how precise, deterministic polishing can be achieved in terms of the control of these parameters. The polishing results of an 84 cm hyperbolic mirror are presented to illustrate how the stability of these parameters is important to obtain high-quality surfaces.

HyDra: A novel hydrodynamic polishing tool for high quality optical surfaces

A novel hydrodynamic radial polishing tool (HyDRa) is presented. It performs corrective lapping and fine polishing of diverse materials by means of a low-cost abrasive flux and a hydrostatic suspension system that avoids contact of the tool with the working surface. With this tool it is currently possible to polish aspheres and free-form optics of up to 2.5 meters in diameter. It has the advantage of avoiding fallen edges during the polishing process as well as reducing tool wear out and deformation. The functioning principle is based on the generation of a high-velocity, high-pressure abrasive emulsion flux with radial geometry. The polishing process is repeatable and achieves high degrees of precision and accuracy on optical and semiconductor surfaces. An additional advantage of this new tool is the possibility to perform in-process interferometric measurements. Recent results of polished aspheres are discussed.

New perspectives in hydrodynamic radial polishing techniques for optical surfaces

In order to overcome classic polishing techniques, a novel hydrodynamic radial polishing tool (HyDRa) is presented; it is useful for the corrective lapping and fine polishing of diverse materials by means of a low-cost abrasive flux and a hydrostatic suspension system that avoids contact of the tool with the working surface. This tool enables the work on flat or curved surfaces of currently up to two and a half meters in diameter. It has the advantage of avoiding fallen edges during the polishing process as well as reducing tool wear out and deformation. The functioning principle is based on the generation of a high-velocity, high-pressure, abrasive emulsion flux with radial geometry. The polishing process is repeatable by means of the control of the tool operational parameters, achieving high degrees of precision and accuracy on optical and semiconductor surfaces, with removal rates of up to 9 mm3/hour and promising excellent surface polishing qualities. An additional advantage of this new tool is the possibility to perform interferometric measurements during the polishing process without the need of dismounting the working surface. A series of advantages of this method, numerical simulations and experimental results are described.

HyDRa: polishing process convergence rate optimization

In an effort to optimize the hydrodynamic radial (HyDRa) polishing process for applications where the amount of material that has to be removed implies long polishing times, we have developed a method to determine the optimum correction fraction that has to be made for a given error map, in terms of the level of determinism of the process, the number of iterations, and their associated polishing runs as well as run times.

Low-cost, phase-shifting mechanisms for Newton-type interferometers

Using standard optical shop equipment, it is possible to implement simple, low-cost, phase-shifting Newton interferometers sufficiently accurate for surface evaluation. The simplification of the phase-shifting mechanism is compensated with image-processing algorithms that can deal with vibrations and uneven, nonsequential steps. The results are cross-compared with a Fizeau phase-shifting interferometer to verify the effectiveness of the method.

New results in hydrodynamic radial polishing using HyDRa

New results using hydrodynamic radial polishing techniques on assorted materials, using HyDRa are presented. This tool performs corrective lapping and fine polishing by means of a low-cost, foamy abrasive flux. The functioning principle is based on the generation of a grazing, high-velocity, low-pressure, rotational, variable density, abrasive flux with radial geometry. It is currently possible to polish aspheres and free-form optics on diverse materials and sizes. This tool is particularly useful for polishing thin substrates such as membranes and semiconductors since it can be biased for a non-interactive action on the work piece. This process also has the advantage of achieving high removal rates. In order to achieve high degrees of accuracy and repeatability in the HyDRa finishing process, fully automated bias and slurry supply units must be incorporated to the polishing system. The air and slurry supply systems are described, as well as operational tool parameters for optimal polishing performance.