Stressed mirror polishing. 1: A technique for producing nonaxisymmetric mirrors

The theoretical basis is developed for a technique to fabricate nonaxisymmetric mirrors. Stresses are applied to a mirror blank that would have the effect of elastically deforming a desired surface into a sphere. A sphere is then polished into the blank, and upon release of the applied stress, the spherical surface deforms into the desired one. The method can be applied iteratively, so arbitrary accuracy should be possible. Calculations of the stresses and deformations are carried out in detail for an off-axis section of a paraboloid. For a very general class of surfaces, it is sufficient to only impose appropriate stresses at the edge of the blank plus a uniform pressure on the back.