The Effects of Coolant on Fixed Diamond Lapping Pads When Processing Hard Optics

What’s most important to your process when lapping hard optics? It may depend on different desired outcomes, such as achieving better surface quality, a higher removal rate, or clocking less downtime. Regardless, optimizing the process often requires finding the right configuration of pad, conditioning, and coolant. Russell provides insights into finding such configurations by exploring the removal rate and surface-finish results after double-sided lapping on BK 7, fused silica glass, and sapphire.

About the presenter
Christopher Russell, senior field application engineer, has been a team member of Universal Photonics (UPI) since the mid-aughts. A Clarkson University alumnus, Russell came on board as an engineer in UPI’s quality control lab, and within a few short years he was promoted to lab manager. Russell was instrumental in shaping the R&D side of the lab, analyzing polishing applications, exploring technological advancements, and developing consumable sets. It’s only natural that he chooses to be out in the field, where most often he’s working on the production floor, one-on-one with master opticians. When he is not meeting the processing challenges of exotic optics, you can find him hard at play sailing, scuba diving, or flying.