Diamond milling of micro-optics

Author

Sweatt, W.C. ; Gill, D.D. ; Adams, D.P. ; Vasile, MJ ; Claudet, A.A.

Author_Institution

Sandia Nat. Labs., Albuquerque

Volume

23

Issue

1

fYear

2008

Firstpage

13

Lastpage

17

Abstract

A diamond mill (a tiny end mill) can cut aspheric lenses and mirrors with diameters smaller than 0.5 mm. The cutting tool has a two-dimensional shape and is spun about the axis of the surface to be cut. As the spinning tool is plunged into the substrate, it cuts a radially symmetric surface to sub-micron accuracies. Commercially available circular diamond tools can be modified to aspheric shapes using a focused ion beam. Fabrication examples will be presented and the optical performance of an array of micro-lenses will be described.

Keywords

aspherical optics; cutting tools; focused ion beam technology; microlenses; micromirrors; milling; optical arrays; optical fabrication; turning (machining); aspheric lenses; aspheric mirrors; circular diamond tools; diamond milling; focused ion beam; microlenses array performance; microoptics; optical fabrication; spinning tool; two-dimensional shaped cutting tool; Cutting tools; Ion beams; Lenses; Milling machines; Mirrors; Optical arrays; Optical device fabrication; Particle beam optics; Shape; Spinning;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0885-8985

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/AES-M.2008.4444483

Filename

4444483