CeraNova continues to expand and augment our optical fabrication (grinding and polishing) capabilities and facilities. In-house capabilities have been established to confirm fabrication processes and to determine cost-effective grinding and polishing operations for optical materials prior to manufacturing. Processes to grind and polish several ceramic materials into hemispherical and aspheric shapes are being implemented using CeraNova’s CNC equipment and customized fixtures/tooling.
Fabrication equipment used to produce plano and curved shapes (both spherical and non-spherical) includes a CNC eSX 150 grinder and a CNC UltraForm Finisher (OptiPro Systems). The 5-axis eSX excels at multi-step deterministic grinding, and is capable of precision contour grinding of aspheres (concave and convex), cylinders, prisms, and conformal optics. The UltraForm Finisher (UFF) is a 5-axis CNC finishing and polishing machine, which utilizes bound abrasive and loose abrasive belt technology. It is designed to deliver high-precision optical surfaces such as spheres, aspheres, cylinders, toroids, and conformal optics. Additional fabrication equipment at CeraNova includes spherical polishers and a variety of manual and semi-automatic spindles that provide the ability to grind, fine, or polish plane or curved optics up to 20+ inches in diameter.