Custom Optics
     Beam splitters
     Custom optics
     Etalons
     Laser optics
     Michelson interferometers
     Thin Film Coatings
     Wafers and substrates
     Waveplates

   Standard Optics
     Catalog
   
   Fluid Jet Polishing     
     FJP Overview & Equipment
     Fabrication services
 
   Lasers
     CO2 lasers
     Excimer lasers
     Fabrication services
     Laser parts and service

   Optical Design Tools
     Online Calculators
     Library

   About
     The Company
     Contact us
     News
     International Distributors
     Careers
      Supplier Information
     Blog

Fluid jet polishing is turning the world of optical fabrication upside down. Near perfect optical components can now be produced routinely using this cost effective, computer controlled technique.

FJP-1150
LightMachinery's fluid jet polishing system uses a fine stream of slurry to accurately remove nanometers of material. Standard fluids are available for polishing a variety of materials. In addition users may select other commercial slurries or use in-house mixtures.

A robust pumping system, developed by the LightMachinery engineering team, has almost no moving parts in contact with the slurry so that maintainance is kept to a minimum. Advanced software enables the correction of wavefront errors to achieve surfaces that are very close to perfect. The wide variety of materials that can be processed using the fluid jet system is enabling applications that were previously considered impossible or too expensive with conventional technology.

Download the FJP-1150 Brochure, FJP-1150 ( 800Kb PDF)

Free Sample Processing
Curious about the power of fluid jet? Send us a sample of your material for processing. Just contact us to arrange the details.

3 Simple Steps to Perfect Surfaces

Step 1 Load the Current Surface, this is usually done using a Zygo data file
Step 2 Load the Target Surface and Tool Profile
Step 3 System displays the predicted surface
Click the Go! button and the system will start processing

• Try it yourself!, demo software download - coming soon

Links to More Information

• Specifications
• Slurry Selection Chart
• Application Notes
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Information Request Need more information or sample processing? Just fill out the form
• Component Fabrication Services using FJP
• FJP Technology Development

Specifications

FJP-1150F
Maximum Part Size	150 x 150mm
Motion	2 axis
Component types	Flat to long radius
Materials	fused slica, glasses, crystal, silicon, semiconductors, metals, hard materials
Fluid types	Standard optical slurries
Typical accuracy	±3nm
Typical surface roughness	1nm rms
Compatible input files	Zygo, Excel, custom
Warranty	1 year parts and labor

Fluid Selection Chart

Fluid	Materials
PF-1	Fused Silica, BK-7, glasses, crystal quartz
PF-2	Silicon
PF-3	Magnesium Fluoride, Calcium Fluoride
PF-4	Aluminum, Steel, Copper and other metals

Applications Notes

	Starting Surface This was already a pretty good surface, polished my our opticians to about 1/8 wave over the 2" x 2" square
	After Fluid Jet Polishing This beautiful pattern was made using the fluid jet polishing machine in the usual raster mode.
	Target surface A simple .jpg, 256 x 256 of ISO (we are still very pleased about our ISO 9001 certification). The depth was set to 250nm for the text.
	After Fluid Jet Polishing The ISO image is polished (backwards) into the square optical component that has then been optically contacted to the lower 3" diameter holder. The visible fringes are from the air space between the surfaces.
	Simple to maintain and clean The ultra-reliable fluid pumping system developed by the LightMachinery engineering team is simple to use and maintain.
	Conventional Flatness λ/10 Shown here a conventionally polished fused silica substrate. The wedge in the part is very good, about 50nm, less than lambda/10
	Fluid Jet Polished Flatness λ/100 After processing half of the part with fluid jet polishing. The surface flatness is reduced about 6nm peak to valley or lambda/100
	Atomic force microscope analysis of a conventionaly polished fused silica surface. The size of the area is 1.5 x 2.5 microns. Surface roughness is 1nm Rms
	Atomic force microscope analysis of a fluid jet polished fused silica surface. The size of the area is 1.5 x 2.5 microns. Surface roughness is 1nm Rms
	Micro-channels and complex patterns can also be created by combining fluid jet polishing with masking. These shallow microchannels are about 20nm deep and more than 1000nm wide (the vertical axis is greatly expanded). Applications include microfluidics and optical phase masks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What kind of slurries can I use?
A: The FJP-1150 can accept a very wide range of polishing fluids. We have developed several standard slurries that are well suited to some common material types; fused silica, BK-7, silicon and aluminum. Of course optics is still more art than science and you are also free to try out your own favourite compounds and secret mixtures. When switching from one compound to another you just need to minimize cross contamination by thoroughly cleaning your system.

Q: How does the multi-part processing work?
A: Simply take a single interferometric image of the entire collection of parts. The parts should be spaced out to allow at least a 3 mm gap in between parts. The software will automatically determine the correction required for each part to match the target surface. Load all of the parts into the FJP-1150 and press Go.

Q: What if my component material is not listed on the Slurry Selection Chart?
A: If you are polishing a material that is not listed in the Slurry Selection Chart, then you can simply send us a sample of the material for testing with a variety of slurries

Q: Can we use our own slurry?
A: Sure, many optical shops have a proprietary or favourite polishing slurry or compound that they have used for many years. We encourage our customers to try there own fluids and find a process that works for their unique requirements.

Q: Who do I call for support?
A: Our technical support team is trained to support both lasers and fluid jet systems, just call 613 749-4895 and select "technical support"

 

Information or Quote Request
Just fill out the form below to send us your quote request or click here to send us an email and you can attach a drawing.