Computer Science – Performance
Scientific paper
Jun 1994
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994spie.2199.1164k&link_type=abstract
Proc. SPIE Vol. 2199, p. 1164-1171, Advanced Technology Optical Telescopes V, Larry M. Stepp; Ed.
Computer Science
Performance
1
Scientific paper
The cleaning of mirrors in large, remote telescopes is essential if these telescopes are to meet their performance goals, including low (2%) thermal emissivity in the infrared. Aluminum- coated mirror samples which were naturally or artificially contaminated with materials representative of those at observatories, were cleaned with a UV laser beam or CO(subscript 2) snow. Cleaning effectiveness was determined from studies of residual particle densities and size distributions (measured from low-magnification optical imaging). For exposures under two weeks both laser and CO(subscript 2) cleaning yield comparable results; however, for longer exposures (up to three months) UV laser cleaning is about twice as effective in our tests. At the laser energy densities required for effective cleaning, no surface changes or damage was observed even after cleaning the same spot 200 times. For 8-m class telescopes, the annual consumption cost of sufficiently pure CO(subscript 2) is comparable to the capital cost of a UV laser. Both methods clean such surfaces in less than one day. Two attractive features of laser cleaning are that the method can be fully automated and run frequently without significant cost of manpower or expendables, and that by focusing the laser beam tighter it can be used to strip old surface coatings prior to recoating.
Balick Bruce
Kim Gerald H.
Kimura Wayne D.
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