Typical Broadband filters require modest wavelength uniformity and can be produced in legacy (existing) coating chambers, even in fairly large formats. However, some new instruments require narrow BP (NBP) filters of 60 cm or greater diameter in order to perform efficiently. Some planned systems will even require filters in the 75 cm diameter range. The implications for coating such large, very expensive optics are that the equipment must not only accommodate a large optic, but the process must achieve excellent uniformity over broad areas. It must also exhibit excellent performance, reproducibility and reliability in depositions consisting of well over one hundred layers and many hours duration. And finally, the spectral performance must be verifiable, not through an indirect method, but directly of the science optic itself. To address these challenges, Materion designed, built, tested and put into production a purposebuilt laboratory. This paper will describe in detail the elements of the lab creation and initial achievements. |
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CITATIONS
Cited by 1 scholarly publication.
Optical coatings
Bandpass filters
Optical filters
Optics manufacturing
Spectroscopy
Metrology
Astronomy