Patent ID: 6113242
Filing Date: 2000-09-05
Classification: G02B

Abstract:
A method for producing an optical quality membrane mirror, the method comprising:a. clamping a reflecting membrane to an outer optically flat circular ring;b. centrally positioning said membrane over a smaller inner circular ring while maintaining the plane formed by the top surface of said inner and outer rings in parallel, the top surface of said inner ring having a doubly curved cross-section and being optically flat such that differential pressures can be maintained in the inner ring and in the annulus formed between the inner and outer rings, and such that the membrane is free to move across said inner ring's surface;c. calculating the differential pressures required in both the inner ring and the annulus to achieve a desired optical quality curvature of the inner ring portion of the membrane; andd. producing said calculated pressure differentials to thereby obtain the desired optical quality curvature in the inner ring.