Optical Surfaces (OSL) has received an order from Diamond Light Source to supply high-precision optical components including a spherical convex mirror and on-axis parabolic mirror.
These mirrors will form key components for transporting all the available flux from the Diamond Synchrotron Diagnostic beamline, due to go live in March 2011.
The Diamond Light Source is the UK's national synchrotron facility.
Located in south Oxfordshire, it generates brilliant beams of light, from infrared to X-rays, which are used in a wide range of applications, from structural biology through fundamental physics and chemistry to cultural heritage.
Cyrille Thomas, Diagnostic Group senior scientist, said: 'Our overall project goal was to improve the existing Diamond Diagnostics Beamline to provide more of the available flux over a larger bandwidth, from 400-800nm to 250-800nm.
'The new design will produce an expected increase in flux of the order of 14 and the coating should improve it a further factor.
'This improvement in performance requires an improved control and alignment system, but the gain in power is worth it because it extends our measurement range, in particular at low stored current for beam dynamics studies.
'After reviewing potential suppliers we chose Optical Surfaces to produce the critical on-axis parabolic and sperical convex mirrors for our beamline control and alignment system.
'After testing the system on a bench it showed it to be well within specification, matching almost perfectly the Zemax model,' he added.
Optical Surfaces produced one concave on-axis parabolic mirrors with a surface accuracy better than lambda/13 P-V and a convex spherical mirror with a surface accuracy better than lambda/20 P-V.
The surface accuracy achieved during manufacturing together with the high-reflectivity coatings will enable Diamond to achieve the optical performance and efficiency required by its application.
The optics were manufactured in Zerodur and coated using a special type high-performance UV-silver coating suitable for high reflectivity (R greater than 98 per cent) throughout the wavelength range between 350-800nm.
