Ultra-precision fabrication of fused silica micro-optics by diamond turning of partially debound silica nanocomposites

Silica nanocomposites-based processes provided a new route for low-temperature fabrication of fused silica components. However, low accuracy and poor surface quality prohibit their applications for generating fused silica optics. Herein, we report what we believe to be a novel process for ultra-precision fabrication of complex-shaped fused silica micro-optics by diamond turning of partially debound silica nanocomposites, where the partially debound nanocomposites were designed to suppress undesired deformations in the high-temperature processing. By practically characterizing the generated fused silica components, the optimum partial debinding temperature was selected as 275°C. As a demonstration, an achromatic refractive-diffractive hybrid lens with long focal depth was fabricated to have a surface roughness of Sa = 6.01 nm and a PV error of around 0.46 μm.