Replication of lightweight mirrors

The fabrication of lightweight mirror assemblages via a replication technique offers great potential for eliminating the high cost and schedule associated with the grinding and polishing steps needed for conventional glass or SiC mirrors. A replication mandrel is polished to an inverse figure shape and to the desired finish quality. It is then, coated with a release layer, the appropriate reflective layer, and followed by a laminate for coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) tailorability and strength. This optical membrane is adhered to a mirror structural substrate with a low shrinkage, CTE tailored adhesive. Afterwards, the whole assembly is separated from the mandrel. The mandrel is then cleaned and reused for the next replication run. The ultimate goal of replication is to preserve the surface finish and figure of the optical membrane upon its release from the mandrel. Successful replication requires a minimization of the residual stresses within the optical coating stack, the curing stresses from the adhesive and the thermal stress resulting from CTE mismatch between the structural substrate, the adhesive, and the optical membrane. In this paper, the results on replicated trials using both metal/metal and ceramic/ceramic laminates adhered to light weighted structural substrates made from syntactic foams (both inorganic and organic) will be discussed.