Ultra-smooth polishing of high-precision optical surface

A new method of ultra-smooth uniform polishing was presented, which can avoid high-precision surface figure getting worse after ultra-smooth polishing. At first, the fundamental and process were introduced. Then the process was simulated with “Gauss” and “V” type removal function. It shows that there will be no significant influence on optical surface figure after ultra-smooth uniform polishing with any type removal function. To demonstrate the process, a high-precision Ø100 mm fused silica flat optical element was polished, which was prior figured by IBF. Its surface figure accuracy root-mean-square (rms) value is improved from initial 3.624 nm to final 3.393 nm, the mid-spatial frequency surface roughness rms value is improved from initial 0.477 nm to final 0.309 nm, and the high-spatial frequency surface roughness rms value is improved from initial 0.167 nm to final 0.0802 nm. At last, the surface quality of the lens was analyzed by power spectral density (PSD). The result indicates that the surface roughness of high-precision optical element could be improved by ultra-smooth uniform polishing method without the surface figure destroyed.