Bonding glass to metal with plastic for stability over temperature

摘要

To enable the invention of higher power IRCM lasers, 3D LIDAR Systems, Designator/Rangefinders and other Instruments subjected to a broad range of operating conditions, there is a need to develop improved technology to hold small mirrors, lenses, beamsplitters and other optical elements with repeatable and high dimensional stability over wide environmental temperature ranges, an do so with great economy. The intent of this effort was to begin identifying significant factors for bonding small mirrors for high stability. A screening experiment was performed in which half-inch diameter flat mirrors were face bonded to similar mirror mounts, then bolted to a reference test fixture and subjected to an environmental temperature range of -40 to +70 °C. Mount material, optic material, adhesive material, bond joint design, and bond thickness were varied. The resulting tilt errors in the mirror assemblies were measured. Steps were taken to isolate the bond joint stability as opposed to stability in the mounted mirror subassemblies. The effort required to minimize experimental noise was much greater than anticipated. This first experimental effort failed to identify main factors with statistical significance, however; some results are interesting. Perhaps also of interest is the progress made at characterizing the experimental setup and process, and lessons learned in control of noise factors in this kind of experiment.