UK-based national synchrotron facility, Diamond Light Source has awarded the optical component manufacturer, Optical Surfaces an order to provide high-accuracy optical components, namely an on-axis parabolic mirror and a spherical convex mirror. The mirrors will serve as major components to transport the entire flux obtained from Diamond Synchrotron Diagnostic beamline.
Diamond Light Source produces light beams, from X-rays to infra-red light, which are utilized in various applications such as chemistry, fundamental physics, and structural biology. Optical Surfaces utilized proprietary production approaches to manufacture a single convex spherical mirror that have a better surface accuracy than lambda/20 P-V, and concave on-axis parabolic mirrors that exhibit a better surface accuracy than lambda/13 P-V.
The high reflectivity coatings and the high surface accuracy attained during production will allow Diamond to deliver high optical efficiency and performance necessitated by the application. The high precision optics were produced by utilizing an efficient UV-Silver coating that is appropriate for high reflectivity over the wavelength range of 350-800 nm.
Diagnostic Group’s Senior Scientist, Cyrille Thomas stated that the project objective is to enhance the Diamond Diagnostics Beamline to deliver more flux between a bandwidth range of 400-800 nm to 250-800 nm. Thomas added that the new design would generate an increase in flux by an order of 14, while the coating would increase the flux from a factor of 2 to 5.
Source: http://www.optisurf.com/