The ability to fabricate 4-level diffractive structures with 1 µm critical dimensions has been demonstrated for the creation of fast (∼f/3.1 at 633 nm) Fresnel zone lenses (FZLs) with >60% diffraction efficiency into the -1 focusing order and nearly complete suppression of 0 and +1 orders. This is done using tooling capable of producing optics with 800 mm apertures. A 4-level grating fabricated in glass at 300 mm aperture is shown to have <15  nm rms holographic phase error. Glass FZLs have also been used as mandrels for casting zero-thermal-expansion, 20 µm thick polymer films created with the 4-level structure as a route to mass replication of efficient diffractive membranes for ultralight segmented space-based telescope applications.

Wet-etch figuring utilizes free surface flows driven by surface tension gradients (the Marangoni effect) to confine and stabilize the size and shape of an etchant droplet attached to the underside of a glass surface. This droplet, or wetted zone, is translated on the surface, etching where it contacts and leaving behind no residue, to facilitate an etching-based small-tool figuring process that is free of mechanical and thermal stresses. The optic needs no backing plate, and its back side is free for inspection by optical means. When transmissive optics is figured, the optical thickness between the front and the rear surfaces of the optic is measured interferometrically and used in real time to control the local dwell time of the etchant zone. This truly closed-loop figuring process is robust, environmentally insensitive, and fully automated. It is particularly suited for figuring patterns such as phase plates, corrective elements, and optical flats on very thin (<< 1-mm) substrates that are difficult to figure with traditional abrasive polishing methods.

This FY03 final report on Wet Etch Figuring involves a 2D thermal tool. Its purpose is to flatten (0.3 to 1 mm thickness) sheets of glass faster thus cheaper than conventional sub aperture tools. An array of resistors on a circuit board was used to heat acid over the glass Optical Path Difference (OPD) thick spots and at times this heating extended over the most of the glass aperture. Where the acid is heated on the glass it dissolves faster. A self-referencing interferometer measured the glass thickness, its design taking advantage of the parallel nature and thinness of these glass sheets. This measurement is used in close loop control of the heating patterns of the circuit board thus glass and acid. Only the glass and acid were to be moved to make the tool logistically simple to use in mass production. A set of 4-circuit board, covering 80x80-cm aperture was ordered, but only one 40x40-cm board was put together and tested for this report. The interferometer measurement of glass OPD was slower than needed on some glass profiles. Sometimes the interference fringes were too fine to resolve which would alias the sign of the glass thickness profile. This also caused the phase unwrapping code (FLYNN) to struggle thus run slowly at times taking hours, for a 10 inch square area. We did extensive work to improve the speed of this code. We tried many different phase unwrapping codes. Eventually running (FLYNN) on a farm of networked computers. Most of the work reported here is therefore limited to a 10-inch square aperture. Researched into fabricating a better interferometer lens from Plexiglas so to have less of the scattered light issues of Fresnel lens groves near field scattering patterns, this set the Nyquest limit. There was also a problem with the initial concept of wetting the 1737 glass on its bottom side with acid. The wetted 1737 glass developed an Achromatic AR coating, spoiling the reflection needed to see glass thickness interference fringes. In response to this dilemma, the acid wetting was moved to the top of the glass and the thermal diffusion layer under the glass replaced with rubber. The bottom side of the glass was then protected from etching with a vacuum grease layer on the glass, though many other ways were tried and need to be further developed. We switched our mission away from flattening the OPD of 1737 glass, as the Eyeglass project no longer wanted glass. We turned our attention to the NIF Borofloat Debris shields.