| 摘要 |
The method of making optical fluoride crystal components provide optical components with beneficial final polished transmission surfaces for transmitting below 200 nm wavelengths of light, such as produced by excimer lasers and utilized in optical lithography. The invention utilizes colloidal silica soot in the polishing of optical fluoride crystal surfaces. This colloidal silica soot is a byproduct of chemical vapor deposition processing of fused silica or ultra low expansion glasses. The colloidal silica byproduct is referred to as "soot". Retaining the same physical properties as the parent glass and having a spherical morphology, the colloidal silica soot is an ideal for final polishing applications of optical fluoride crystals, and particularly for optical fluoride crystals such as calcium fluoride which have high transmission levels to below 300 nm light such as produced by excimer lasers. The soot has a large particle size and spherical shape when compared to conventional colloidal or fumed silica. |
