Alloy Casting Produces New Mirror Technology

Under a Phase 1 Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) award of $99,000 with Goddard Space Flight Center, Advanced Optical Systems Inc. (AOS) has produced a 13.5-kg/m2 6-in.-diameter mirror flat to 1 wave peak to valley (0.2 wave RMS) with no heat treatment. Many known techniques, such as heat treating, thermal cycling, and finite element analysis can further improve the mirror's merit characteristics. The surface microroughness achieved was 30-40 angstroms RMS.