TriTec MSF - Tri-Technology Multi Spectral Finishing
Are your broadband optical requirements pushing you towards expensive solutions like polished Beryllium and Silicon Carbide mirrors and assemblies? Talk to ELCAN about our revolutionary process for producing economical, high-performance, broad-band reflective mirrors and athermalized optical assemblies using diamond point turned (DPT) 6061 aluminum mirrors. ELCAN Optical Technologies has created a very powerful and proprietary solution for the most demanding optical requirements!
Today's large aperture reflective telescopes for multi-spectral sensors require mirrors that are well beyond current state-of-the-art in diamond point turning. ELCAN routinely produces large aperture primary mirrors to less than 1/30th of a wave RMS surface figure, and less than 15 angstrom RMS finish over twelve inches of aperture. This new capability has allowed ELCAN to assemble and align large aperture telescopes to better than .1 wave RMS wave front over twelve inches in a production environment. This level of performance was previously limited to heavily-funded, small-quantity, space-based systems in exotic materials. ELCAN's aluminum based reflective systems are lightweight, athermalized, easily assembled, able to perform at visible wave lengths, stable over temperature, and most of all, affordable.
With ELCAN's breakthrough process, you get the best of both worlds, polished glass performance (without the weight) and all of the advantages of an aluminum DPT system (without the scatter).
ELCAN VQ is a cost-effective and proven process that creates a visible quality surface finish on DPT aluminum mirrors. Conventional DPT produces surface finishes near 100Å RMS in 6061 aluminum, adequate for long-wave and mid-wave infrared applications, but insufficient for near IR and visible applications. With ELCAN VQ, surface finishes below 30Å are readily achievable and VQ finishing can be applied to a whole range of reflective configurations including off-axis parabolas, aspheres, spheres, flats and toroids.
About ELCAN Optical Technologies
ELCAN Optical Technologies is setting a NEW standard for high-performance DPT systems in aluminum and is now able to provide this level of performance for medical, defense & security, industrial, and commercial applications. Contact ELCAN today to see how our NEW process can solve your most demanding optical performance challenges.
Author: John Schaefer, Sr. Principal Process Engineer, ELCAN-Richardson DPT Facility
SOURCE: ELCAN Optical Technologies