Recent advances in high-performance window fabrication

James B. Taylor; Richard Boland; Edward Gowac; Paul Stupik; Marc Tricard

doi:10.1117/12.2015848

4 June 2013 Recent advances in high-performance window fabrication

James B. Taylor, Richard Boland, Edward Gowac, Paul Stupik, Marc Tricard

Proceedings Volume 8708, Window and Dome Technologies and Materials XIII; 870816 (2013) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2015848
Event: SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing, 2013, Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Abstract

The continuous drive towards higher performance intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and high-energy laser (HEL) systems has translated into new requirements for high-performance windows. In these applications a wide range of materials needs to be considered, ranging from amorphous glass (such as fused silica), polycrystalline materials (such as CleartranTM) or hard ceramics (such as AlON, spinel and sapphire). A wide range of sizes (up to and including meter class optics) and geometries are also considered for these applications (high aspect ratio plano surfaces remain prevalent, of course, but “free-form” shapes are also being envisioned and implemented routinely, including conformal windows). As is always the case, increasingly tighter specifications, driven by lower wavelength IR systems as well as visible and/or multispectral systems, require continually more sophisticated metrology techniques to verify and validate. Development of manufacturing processes needed to yield pristine optical surfaces capable of operating at higher laser fluences and/or for highly brittle ceramics capable of withstanding a wide range of temperature, operating pressure and stress are also considered. New high-durability thin film coatings capable of withstanding increasingly harsher environments have been developed for these applications. In a defense environment where cost pressures continue to require less expensive manufacturing processes, several advances are discussed. This paper will present a wide range of examples dealing with these materials, geometries, specifications, metrology and thin film coating developments.

Citation Download Citation

James B. Taylor, Richard Boland, Edward Gowac, Paul Stupik, and Marc Tricard "Recent advances in high-performance window fabrication", Proc. SPIE 8708, Window and Dome Technologies and Materials XIII, 870816 (4 June 2013); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2015848

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