Hybrid Inductively Coupled Plasma and Computer-Controlled Optical Surfacing Polishing for Rapid Fabrication of Damage-Free Ultra-Smooth Surfaces

The polymer deposition layer (PDL) formed during inductively coupled plasma (ICP) processing significantly limits the figuring accuracy and surface quality of fused silica optics. This study investigates the formation mechanism, composition, and evolution of the PDL under varying dwell times and proposes an innovative dwell time gradient strategy to suppress roughness deterioration. A significant disparity in hardness and elastic modulus between the deposition layer and the substrate is revealed, explaining its preferential removal and protective buffering effect in computer-controlled optical surfacing (CCOS). A hybrid ICP-CCOS polishing process was developed for processing a 100 mm fused silica mirror. The results show that within 33 min, the surface graphic error RMS was significantly reduced from 58.006 nm to 12.111 nm, and within 90 min, the surface roughness was ultra-precisely reduced from Ra 1.719 nm to Ra 0.151 nm. The average processing efficiency was approximately 0.63 cm2/min. Critically, a damage-free, ultra-smooth surface without subsurface damage (SSD) was successfully achieved. This hybrid process enables the simultaneous optimization of figure accuracy and roughness, eliminating the need for iterative figuring cycles. It provides a novel theoretical framework for high-precision figuring and post-ICP polymer removal, advancing the efficient fabrication of high-performance optics.