HYDRODYNAMIC RADIAL FLUX TOOL FOR POLISHING AND GRINDING OPTICAL AND SEMICONDUCTOR SURFACES

摘要

A polishing tool useful for grinding and high precision, fine polishing of flat or curved optical surfaces, as well as for the optical flattening of semiconductor and metallic surfaces is presented. The tool does not make contact with the surface to be polished. The invention is a tool lacking moving parts, made of stainless steel and ceramic materials for some of its parts. Due to its hydrodynamic characteristics, it is possible to achieve polished surfaces of high-precision optical quality. The tool produces a high velocity flux that expands radially and parallel to the working surface generating a stable, uniform and repeatable annular abrasion footprint.;The design of the tool allows to attain an optical surface from the grinding process up to the final fine polishing process without having to change the tool, avoiding friction against the work surface as well as tool wear. It can polish thin membranes and does not require a rigid or active support for the working surface. This invention considerably simplifies optical polishing processes and reduces costs with respect to other known methods.