FABRICATION OF SMALL NONSYMMETRICAL ASPHERIC SURFACES

Equipment and procedures have been developed for the fabrication of small nonsymmetrical aspheric surfaces.A grinding or polishing pad is used which is much smaller than the workpiece.The oscillating motion of the workpiece under the pad coupled with the grinding or polishing slurry produces material removal.Control over this removal is accomplished by varying the speed of the pad as it travels over different regions of the workpiece.The technique has been used to fabricate two nonsymmetrical aspheric metal mirrors.© 1979 Optical Society of America.