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Optical finish on a deep paraboloid surface

Q. Hi all, I run a research lab in molecular imaging, we are looking for an affordable method (<$1,000 per piece) to make deep paraboloid concave mirror surfaces, in materials with low thermal expansion (borosilicate glass, invar, macor, covar) suitable for optical imaging (surface roughness <100 nm). An example of a our parabolic surface of interest: f=x^2/40, where x is the distance from the centre; a 150 mm-diameter paraboloid described by this formula has an f=10 mm, and is about 143 mm deep. So far we have looked at diamond turning (too expensive) and epoxy spin-casting (surface quality 100x worse our spec).

Andrey Revyakin
principal investigator - Leicester, UK
October 26, 2015

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