The cycle of each processing procedure of the Powell prism
Powell Prism (Powell Prism) processing flow periodic table
The processing cycle of Powell Prism (including aspheric models) is affected by precision grade (industrial grade/high precision grade), material (BK7 / fused quartz/infrared crystal), and order quantity. The following is a reference for the standardized processing cycle of a single prism. Mass production can reduce the time by 30% to 50% through parallel processes.
Processing stage | Core processes | Industrial grade (BK7 material) cycle | High-precision grade (fused silica) cycle | Notes on cycle differences |
1. Material pretreatment | Material selection + ultrasonic testing + high-temperature annealing | 3 days | 7 days | Fused quartz is annealed at a higher temperature and held for a longer time to eliminate internal stress and avoid subsequent deformation |
2 Rough machining of the blank | Diamond wire cutting + rough grinding forming | 2 days | 3 days | High-precision grade requires strict control of cutting tolerance (±0.01mm), and additional dimensional remeasurement is necessary after rough grinding |
3 Ultra-precision fine grinding | CNC fine grinding + aspheric surface forming | 3 days | 5 days | Aspheric surfaces need to be corrected point by point through a CNC grinding machine, and two additional precision calibrations are required for the high precision grade |
4. Optical polishing | Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) + ion beam finishing | 4 days | 8 days | The high-precision level requires surface shape accuracy to be raised to λ/20, and ion beam grinding requires multiple iterations of optimization |
5 Calibration of critical parameters | Aspheric surface shape detection + Angle correction | 1 day | 2 days | The high-precision level requires repeated comparisons with the theoretical model using a laser interferometer to adjust the ridge Angle /apex Angle tolerance |
6. Coating process (optional) | Anti-reflection film/high reflection film deposition + film layer inspection | 2 days | 3 days | High-precision grade coating needs to be completed in a 1000-class cleanroom, adding adhesion testing and spectral verification processes |
7. Full-dimensional final inspection | Geometric accuracy + optical performance + environmental reliability testing | 2 days | 4 days | The high-precision level requires additional items such as laser line uniformity scanning and temperature cycling tests |
8 Clean packaging | Ultrasonic cleaning + vacuum packaging + test report preparation | 1 day | 1 day | The two precision grades have the same process and both require a complete inspection data traceability label |
Total cycle | - | 18 days | 33 days | Bulk orders (≥50 pieces) can be compressed to 10 days (industrial grade) /20 days (high precision grade) through process parallel. |
Notice on the website,
Urgent order service: For urgent projects, by allocating dedicated equipment and prioritizing production scheduling, the industrial-grade cycle can be compressed to 12 days and the high-precision cycle to 22 days (prior communication and confirmation are required).
Material impact supplement: The processing cycle for infrared crystals (such as Ge, CaF₂) should be increased by 5 to 8 days on top of this. Due to the brittleness of the crystals, the processing rate for fine grinding and polishing should be reduced to avoid chipping.
Cycle Guarantee commitment: UltraOpto signs a cycle guarantee agreement for all orders. If delivery is delayed due to our reasons, corresponding compensation will be provided as stipulated in the contract.
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