Planar polishing process method based on real-time dressing of a polishing pad surface

Area of Science:

• Manufacturing Engineering
• Optical Engineering
• Materials Science

Background:

• Planar polishing is crucial for high-precision planar components in optics.
• Conventional polishing methods struggle with real-time surface correction.
• Achieving superior flatness requires precise control over polishing pad topography.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a real-time dresser for planar polishing of large-aperture optical components.
• To enable real-time correction of the polishing pad surface during the polishing process.
• To improve the precision and efficiency of planar polishing for optical elements.

Main Methods:

• Development of a real-time dresser integrated with a planar polishing process.
• Utilizing a temperature parameter (t) for real-time correction of the polishing pad surface.
• Optimization experiments to determine the optimal temperature parameter for dressing.

Main Results:

• The real-time dresser effectively dressed the polishing pad surface.
• Real-time correction of the polishing pad surface shape was achieved.
• Flatness peak-valley deviation improved by 25% to 3λ.
• Root-mean-square deviation improved by 33% to 0.9λ for 430x430mm optical elements.

Conclusions:

• The developed real-time dresser significantly enhances planar polishing of large optical components.
• Real-time dressing offers superior control over polishing pad topography compared to conventional methods.
• The process leads to substantial improvements in the flatness and precision of optical elements.