Chemical machining of Zerodur material with atmospheric pressure plasma jet

The material of Zerodur is widely used in high performance optics because of its excellent thermal stability characteristics. This paper deals with the development of an APPJ (Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet) chemical machining process for defect free and high efficiency machining of Zerodur. The APPJ chemical machining mechanism for multi-phase multi-composite materials is presented. The chemical property of the plasma jet is investigated via the atom emission spectrum analysis method and the experimental results of Zerodur material removal function and surface roughness variation with different processing parameters are discussed. Scientific explanations for the experimental observations are given.