Polishing Techniques for Optical-Grade Copper and Aluminum Parts

This study examines the regularities in polishing optical components made of copper and aluminum using dispersed systems of micro- and nanopowders. The results show that both the material removal rate and the wear intensity of the polishing powder increase with higher Q factors of the microresonator, as well as with longer lifetimes of quantum dots on the polished surface and clusters on the surface of polishing powder particles in the excited state. The volumetric wear coefficients and the most probable sizes of sludge and polishing-powder wear nanoparticles exhibit corresponding trends. The surface roughness parameters Ra, Rq, and Rmax increase linearly with the Q factor of the microresonator. Analysis of the dependence of the surface roughness parameter Rz and the ηm/Ra ratio on the most probable size of sludge nanoparticles indicates that using cerium dioxide powder dispersions for copper polishing fails to meet the required standards for optical surfaces, and for aluminum polishing, it does not offer sufficient material removal efficiency. The study substantiates the feasibility of employing copper metaborate micro- and nanopowder dispersions to polish optical copper and aluminum surfaces, achieving the required surface roughness at a high material removal rate. Theoretical values of the material removal rate during polishing with copper metaborate and cerium dioxide dispersions agree well with experimental data, showing a deviation of only 2–5%.