Development of grid-reinforced carbon fiber mirrors using high-precision optical replication technology

Due to low density, high specific stiffness, and low thermal expansion, carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) is believed to be one of the potential material choices for optical mirrors. But CFRP is one of the two-phase materials that cannot be used as optical surface and must be surface modified. To develop one kind of grid-reinforced CFRP mirror, optical replication technology was used to modify and achieve high-precision surface, and theoretical deformation due to replica resin curing and deformation caused by laminates' manufacturing errors were studied in detail. Optical replication experiment has shown that lambda/20 root mean square high-precision surface can be achieved for Phi 100-mm grid-reinforced carbon fiber mirrors. (C) 2018 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE