Ion beam machining process for surface leveling, shaping or shape correction of mechanical, micromechanical, electronic and high quality optical components

摘要

Ion beam machining of a workpiece comprises cycles of workpiece or ion source rotation and computer-controlled etching which are repeated until the requisite accuracy is achieved. In an ion beam machining process using a rectangular beam cross-section, the workpiece is machined to the requisite accuracy, depending on the target surface, the ion beam parameters and the material properties, by repetitive sequential cycles of workpiece or ion source rotation and ion beam etching by computer-controlled position-dependent translatory movements of fixed or variable distance while effecting velocity variations which are preset or predetermined by simulation.