Title: Extreme Astronomical Optics for Ground and Space Telescopes

Speaker: Prof. Dae Wook Kim (Univ. of Arizona)

Date & Time: Friday, June 4th, 2021, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Location: Online

( https://zoom.us/j/98891379250?pwd=QkZ6M1QrTXlna3F2U09ybGdoeFdyQT09 , It will open at 10:30)

Abstract

Next generation space and ground based astronomical optics are bringing about exciting developments in our scientific understanding of the Universe in which we live. Over 1,000 tons giant astronomical telescope systems coupling diffraction-limited spatial resolution with unprecedented photon collection power will be one of the most powerful scientific investigation tools. Their primary optics, 25m Giant Magellan Telescope, 8.4m Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, and 4.2m Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, have been nano-manufactured at the University of Arizona. Those precision optics were efficiently fabricated using a computer controlled optical surfacing (CCOS) technology. Also, to build the next generation of large optics, new freeform design/metrology methods and tools have been developed. Various new approaches advancing the current CCOS processes have been developed and implemented to manufacture highly aspheric or free-form optics at the Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab (RFCML), Optical Engineering and Fabrication Facility (OEFF) and the Large Optics Fabrication and Testing (LOFT) group at the University of Arizona. Various exciting technologies including Silly-Putty lap using non-Newtonian fluid, visible deflectometry (a.k.a. SCOTS), IR deflectometry using a hot wire, and precision freeform metrology using an iPhone are presented with some actual data demonstrating the exceptional performance of the precision optics manufacturing process.