Achieving a Low Stress Optical Finish on a High Aspect Ratio Beryllium Mirror

As optical systems become more complex, the designer is often forced to utilize exotic state-of-the-art materials to help solve difficult engineering problems. Often, as in the example presented here, the result is a design with inherent manufacturing problems. The component is a light weight beryllium mirror used in a Forward Looking InfraRed (FLIR) system. (Figure 1). The thin section design and the use of beryllium as the substrate material caused manufacturing problems.