Cryogenic performance of a lightweight silicon carbide mirror

Ron Eng; James R. Carpenter; Colby A. Foss Jr.; James B. Hadaway; Harlan J. Haight; William D. Hogue; David Kane; Jeffrey R. Kegley; H. Philip Stahl; Ernest R. Wright

doi:10.1117/12.624292

30 August 2005 Cryogenic performance of a lightweight silicon carbide mirror

Ron Eng, James R. Carpenter, Colby A. Foss Jr., James B. Hadaway, Harlan J. Haight, William D. Hogue, David Kane, Jeffrey R. Kegley, H. Philip Stahl, Ernest R. Wright

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Proceedings Volume 5868, Optical Materials and Structures Technologies II; 58680Q (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.624292
Event: Optics and Photonics 2005, 2005, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Low cost, high performance lightweight Silicon Carbide (SiC) mirrors provide an alternative to Beryllium mirrors. A Trex Enterprises 0.25m diameter low areal density SiC mirror using its patented Chemical Vapor Composites (CVC) technology was evaluated for its optical performance at cryogenic temperature. CVC SiC is chemically pure, thermally stable, and mechanically stiff. CVC technology yields higher growth rate than that of CVD SiC. NASA has funded lightweight optical materials technology development efforts for future space based telescope programs. As part of these efforts, a Trex SiC mirror was measured interferometrically from room temperature to 30 degrees Kelvin. This paper will discuss the test goals, the cryogenic optical testing infrastructure and instrumentation at MSFC, test results, and lessons learned.

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Ron Eng, James R. Carpenter, Colby A. Foss Jr., James B. Hadaway, Harlan J. Haight, William D. Hogue, David Kane, Jeffrey R. Kegley, H. Philip Stahl, and Ernest R. Wright "Cryogenic performance of a lightweight silicon carbide mirror", Proc. SPIE 5868, Optical Materials and Structures Technologies II, 58680Q (30 August 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.624292

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