Abstract

We show that sapphire can be superpolished in direct contact with a tin lap by using colloidal silica in water as the polishing liquid. The residual roughness is < 0.05 nm rms. No damage to the layer remains. The typical polishing time is 15–30 min. The flatness is determined by prepolishing mainly. Curved surfaces can also be polished by using this method. The least roughness was observed when removal rates were low, i.e., ~ 10 nm/min, which corresponds to approximately half of an atomic layer per second.

© 1992 Optical Society of America

Polishing study using Teflon and pitch laps to produce flat and supersmooth surfaces

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