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Silicon Carbide-Based Lightweight Mirror Blanks for Space Optics Applications

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Handbook of Advanced Ceramics and Composites

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Abstract

The advantages of the reflective optics over the refractive one for optical imaging in the spaceborne telescopes have been demonstrated over the years. The performance of such optical systems is continually increasing through the use of lightweight and larger mirrors. The use of several materials including ultra-low expansion (ULE) glass, Zerodur glass-ceramics, monolithic aluminum, optical grade beryllium, etc. as the mirrors for space optics is known for decades. Nowadays, silicon carbide (SiC)-based space mirrors have become the most attractive choice because of their excellent mechanical and thermal figure of merits. The superior mechanical and thermal properties of SiC allow in accommodating the complex designs and higher lightweighting over the conventional materials. In addition, a very low surface figure (< λ/20) and surface roughness (~ 0.1 nm) can be achieved in SiC. This chapter discusses the superiority of SiC as mirrors over the existing materials for application in space optics. Subsequently, the detailed processing of SiC-based lightweight mirror blanks involving the production of sintered SiC (S-SiC) substrates followed by cladding with a fully dense SiC coating by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique is discussed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Non-Oxide Ceramics, International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), Hyderabad, India

    Dulal Chandra Jana & Bhaskar Prasad Saha

Authors
  1. Dulal Chandra Jana
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  2. Bhaskar Prasad Saha
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bhaskar Prasad Saha .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. ARCI, International Advanced Research Centre f ARCI, Hyderabad, India

    Yashwant Mahajan

  2. ARCI, International Advanced Research Centre f ARCI, Hyderabad, Telangana, India

    Johnson Roy

Section Editor information

  1. World Academy of Ceramics, Vallabh Vidyanagar, India

    LM Manocha

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Jana, D.C., Saha, B.P. (2019). Silicon Carbide-Based Lightweight Mirror Blanks for Space Optics Applications. In: Mahajan, Y., Roy, J. (eds) Handbook of Advanced Ceramics and Composites. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73255-8_37-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73255-8_37-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-73255-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-73255-8

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