Elastic emission machining of ultra-precision surfaces

Elastic Emission Machining (EEM), a deterministic chemical removal process, has been proven to be one of the most effective methodologies for yielding ultra-smooth and ultra-precise optical surfaces. OptiPro has developed a process utilizing this technology in conjunction with the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the polishing of ultra-precision optical substrates. By determining the proper chemical pairing of polishing slurry mixture and material substrate, OptiPro has been able to deterministically correct and smooth surfaces to < 0.15 nm root mean square (RMS) microroughness, < 5 nm RMS mid-spatial frequency error, and < 50 nm Peak-to-Valley (PV) surface error. This process has also been shown to mitigate support structure print-through on lightweighted optics and yields surfaces without subsurface damage.