ZERODUR® has been selected as substrate material for the M1 to M4 of the ELT, the world largest ground-based telescope. Reliable serial production of 949 segments started:18 verification blanks have been finished. Mirror substrates as large as 4.25m in diameter are required. This is in the context of precision instrumentation markets outside of astronomical telescopes traditionally dominating ZERODUR® production. SCHOTT has extended its capacity to the extent that there is little or no impact on ZERODUR® availability in the various established markets of ZERODUR®, including other space and ground astronomical applications. Capacity related investment of several 10 m€ along the entire ZERODUR® process chain will eliminate any bottleneck.

Date Published: 27 February 2020
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 11116, Astronomical Optics: Design, Manufacture, and Test of Space and Ground Systems II, 1111612 (27 February 2020); doi: 10.1117/12.2529820

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 11116:
Astronomical Optics: Design, Manufacture, and Test of Space and Ground Systems II
Tony B. Hull; Dae Wook Kim; Pascal Hallibert, Editor(s)