Skip to main content
Background

The optical fabrication industry has been seeking cost effective methods of fabricating glass optics that avoid the centuries old labor-intensive traditional grinding and polishing processes. Traditional techniques are not predictable enough and as a result, optical fabricators resort to time consuming trial and error approaches.

Description

This invention proposes to use laser induced melting/softening to locally reshape the form of a glass optic. The local glass densification that results induces predictable stresses that through plate deformation mechanics yield a deterministic methodology for arbitrarily reshaping an optic surface figure and wavefront without the need to remove material.

Image
Advantages

The principal advantages of this invention are:

  • Deterministic methodology for arbitrarily reshaping glass optics.
  • Ability to reshape spherical, planar, or other arbitrary shaped glass optics.
  • Ability to correct arbitrary optic surface figure and wavefront aberrations.
  • Ability to reshape an optic without removing material.
  • Low cost and less time consuming than traditional optical finishing techniques.
Potential Applications
  • Reshaping spherical, planar, or other arbitrary shaped glass optics.
  • Correcting arbitrary optic surface figure and wavefront aberrations.
  • Reshape an optic without removing material.
     
Development Status

Current stage of technology development:  TRL 4-5

LLNL has filed for patent protection on this invention.

US Patent Application No. 2022/0176495 System and Method for Radius of Curvature Modification of Optical Plates and Lenses by Irradiation with Optical Energy published 06/09/2022

Reference Number
IL-13599
Contact