Optics for telescopes - on ground and in space - is getting more and more into complex geometries. Weight reduction and new materials together with aspherical shape and off-axis set-ups increase the need for deterministic processes. With the advent of free-form surfaces having no symmetry at all, a new chapter for fabrication issues is opened. This paper describes our current achievements to combine different fabrication and measurement technologies to cope with the increasing demand in precision and complexity. We will explain our fabrication approach covering the full range from the raw material to the coated and measured component. Several examples of current and recent projects are shown. The variety of materials used ranges from Zerodur® to SiC.

Date Published: 19 July 2010
PDF: 11 pages
Proc. SPIE 7739, Modern Technologies in Space- and Ground-based Telescopes and Instrumentation, 773903 (19 July 2010); doi: 10.1117/12.857067

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 7739:
Modern Technologies in Space- and Ground-based Telescopes and Instrumentation
Eli Atad-Ettedgui; Dietrich Lemke, Editor(s)