Optics Polishing: Matching Techniques with Applications

Fähnle's presentation spans the arc of state-of-the-art polishing methods best suited to meeting quality requirements for different optical systems, including those with medical applications and those operating in the IR, visible, and EUV ranges. Examples of polishing techniques covered include ion beam figuring (IBF), laser polishing, ductile machining, magnetorheological finishing (MRF), fluid jet polishing (FJP), and computer numerical control (CNC) polishing. Case studies of typical matches between finishing methods and their applications are discussed in detail and range from solutions in industry to academia.

About the presenter
Oliver Fähnle, Ph.D., received his doctorate in optics fabrication and testing in 1998 from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, and he has been working and teaching in the field ever since, running projects in industry and academia. From 1999 to 2020, Fähnle worked as the senior expert in optical fabrication technology at FISBA AG in Switzerland. He is currently senior research scientist at the University of Applied Sciences' (OST's) Optical Systems Generation group in Switzerland.

Fähnle is a senior member of OSA and SPIE, and he is chairman of the Industrial Advisory Board of the EOS. Additionally, he has been a practitioner and teacher of kendo, a Japanese sword fencing discipline, for almost 30 years.