Interferometrically measuring the index of refraction variation (index homogeneity) of glass blanks requires that the blanks be made transparent to the interferometer laser. One method for achieving this is to 'sandwich' a rough ground blank between two polished flats while adding an index matching liquid at each surface interface. This is better known as oil-on-flat (OOF) or oil-on-plate testing. Another method requires polishing both surfaces and is better known as polished homogeneity (PHOM) testing or the Schwider method. Corning Inc. historically has used OOF testing to measure the index homogeneity of disk-shaped, fused silica boules over multiple 18' diameter apertures. Recently a boule polishing and PHOM testing process was developed by Corning for measuring the homogeneity over 24' diameter apertures to support fused silica production for the National Ignition Facility (NIF). Consequently, the PHOM technique has been compared to the OOF process using a number of different methods including repeatability/reproducibility studies, data stitching, and vibration analysis. The analysis performed demonstrates PHOM's advantages over OOF testing.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.