High velocity fluid polishing of optical components

This paper deals with a newly developed high velocity fluid polishing using an ultra fine abrasive wheel as polisher. In the method, the workpiece is ground with a wheel first, then the wheel is drawn back from the workpiece for a few μm. Subsequently the ground surface is finally polished with a fine polishing fluid, which flows at a high velocity between the wheel and the workpiece. In the conventional finishing process of optical and electrical components such as lenses and mirrors, some complicated processes between grinding and polishing are required. However, with the new polishing method, the workpieces are finished serially by the same machine and the same polishing tool (wheel). In this study, the behavior of the polishing fluid and the pressure were analyzed. In the polishing experiment, optical glasses were machined with resinoid bonded diamond wheel and colloidal silica as polishing abrasive. From the experimental results, it is clarified that the workpiece were polished precisely and efficiently with the polishing method. The surface roughness of 8.8nm R_max was obtained.