Control of mid-spatial frequency errors considering the pad groove feature in smoothing polishing process

Abstract

Mid-spatial frequency error (MSFR) should be strictly controlled in modern optical systems. As an effective approach to suppress MSFR, the smoothing polishing (SP) process is not easy to handle because it can be affected by many factors. This paper mainly focuses on the influence of the pad groove, which has not been researched yet. The SP process is introduced, and the important role of the pad groove is explained in detail. The relationship between the contact pressure distribution and the groove feature including groove section type, groove width, and groove depth is established, and the optimized result is achieved with the finite element method. The different kinds of groove patterns are compared utilizing the numerical superposition method established scrupulously. The optimal groove is applied in the verification experiment conducted on a self-developed SP machine. The root mean square value of the MSFR after the SP process is diminished from 2.38 to 0.68 nm, which reveals that the selected pad can smooth out the MSFR to a great extent with proper SP parameters, while the newly generated MSFR due to the groove can be suppressed to a very low magnitude.

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