title: Efficient laser polishing of silica micro-optic components.
abstract: We report a study of the basic characteristics of laser polishing of fused silica with a protocol that is particularly suitable for surface smoothing of micro-optic elements fabricated by a laser ablation process. We describe a new, to our knowledge, approach based on scanning a highly controlled small size laser beam and melting areas of tens to hundreds of micrometers of glass using a computer-controlled raster scan process, which does not require beam shaping, substrate preheating, or special atmospheres. Special test samples of silica substrates with prescribed spatial frequency content were polished using a range of irradiation conditions with the beam from a well-controlled CO2 laser operating at a wavelength of 10.59 microm. An analysis is presented of the laser-generated reduction in surface roughness in terms of measurements of the spatial frequency characteristics, and the results are compared with the predictions of a simple model of surface-tension-driven mass flow within the laser-melted layer. This technique is shown to be capable of smoothing silica surfaces with approximately 1 microm scale roughness down to levels < 1 nm with no net effect on the as-machined net surface shape, at realistic production rates without a preheating stage, and with noncritical residual stresses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH11 4AS, United Kingdom. k.m.nowak@hw.ac.uk
authors.forename: Krzysztof M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Nowak
authors.forename: Howard J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: Denis R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Hall