Diamond Turning Metal Mirrors for Space Applications

The rapid growth of space and laser-communication markets are driving a shift from customized optical components toward industrialized, cost-efficient series production. Metal mirrors manufactured by ultra-precision diamond turning offer significant advantages for space applications, including low cost, lightweighting potential, high thermal conductivity, and direct integration of functional features.

This presentation evaluates the potential of diamond turning for aluminum mirrors used in space optics, comparing production process chains with and without electroless nickel-phosphorus (NiP) plating. Key manufacturing steps, metrology methods, and the benefits and drawbacks of NiP plating are discussed.

Several case studies, including large off-axis aspheric and flat mirrors, demonstrate achievable surface roughness below 5 nm RMS and wavefront errors down to 30 nm RMS. The results confirm diamond-turned metal mirrors as a viable and scalable solution for high-performance, cost-effective optical systems in future space missions.

About the presenter
Jessica DeGroote Nelson, Ph.D., is the senior director of strategic optical innovations at Edmund Optics (EO). At EO, she is responsible for corporate strategy related to optical components and associated coating technologies. Prior to joining EO, DeGroote Nelson was the director of technology and strategy at Optimax from 2007 to 2022. She graduated from the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester with a bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degree in Optics.

She furthered her education with an Executive Master of Business Administration degree from the Simon School of Business at the University of Rochester in 2013. DeGroote Nelson is active in the technical community as a fellow member of SPIE, a senior member of Optica (formerly OSA), and a member of the Optics and Electro-Optics Standards Council (OEOSC).