Microwaves enable activated plasma figuring for ultra-precision fabrication of optics

Activated plasma figuring using microwaves aims at providing highly efficient activated energy beams for rapid fabrication of optics. The chemical nature of this type of energy beam leads to targeting silicon-based materials. Furthermore this technology is proposed to address the needs of ultra-precision optical components. In this paper, we present a novel ADTEC microwavegenerated plasma torch design which is operated at atmospheric pressure. In this study, the plasma torch is fed with either argon or helium carrier gas. However this novel design for Plasma Figuring is targeted at local surface correction of crystal quartz which is a material of great interest for optical systems, such as acousto-optic devices. Also this novel design is targeted at reducing midspatial frequency errors such as waviness, ripple errors and residual sub-aperture tool footprints. These are responsible for the scattering of light at small angles, resulting in optical hazing effects, photonic energy loss and pixel cross-talk. Also the results of a preliminary investigation using Optical Emission Spectroscopy (OES) are reported and discussed. These results show the operat ing range when the main processing parameters are changed: microwave forward power values, gas flow rates and the types of gasses.