Float-polishing process and analysis of float-polished quartz

Abstract

A fluid-mechanical model is developed for the float-polishing process. In this model laminar flow between the sample and the lap results in pressure gradients at the grooves that support the sample on a fluid layer. The laminar fluid motion also produces supersmooth, damage-free surfaces. Quartz substrates for applications in high-stress environments were float polished, and their surfaces were analyzed by optical scatterometry, photoacoustic spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy. The removal of 100 µm of material by a lapping-polishing process, with final float polishing, left low levels of subsurface damage, with a surface roughness of approximately 0.2-nm rms.

Additional Information

© 1994 Optical Society of America. Received 18 May 1992; revised manuscript received 19 March 1993. We acknowledge the assistance of Scott Stowell and David Reicher in the fabrication and measurements reported in this paper. This work was supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under the Generated Surfaces and Thin Film Coating Development Task at Phillips Laboratory, Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, N.M.

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