Plasma Chemical Vaporization Machining with a Pipe Electrode for Optical Fabrication: a Review

Plasma chemical vaporization machining (CVM) has been proposed as a high-precision chemical shaping method, which uses rf plasma generated in the proximity of an electrode in an atmospheric environment. Based on the principle of plasma CVM, a computer numerically controlled plasma CVM device with a pipe electrode was proposed for optical fabrication. This paper reviews the plasma CVM device, its removal characteristics, and the fabrication results of glass optics by use of the device