Surface imperfections (optics)
Standards of defining surface imperfections on optical surfaces such as lenses and mirrors, coming from fabrication or handling
Surface imperfections on optical surfaces such as lenses or mirrors, can be caused during the manufacturing of the part or handling. These imperfections are part of the surface and cannot be removed by cleaning. Surface quality is characterized either by the American military standard notation (eg "60-40") or by specifying RMS (root mean square) roughness (eg "0.3 nm RMS"). American notation focuses on how visible surface defects are, and is a "cosmetic" specification. RMS notation is an objective measurable property of the surface. Tighter specifications increase the costs of fabricating optical elements but looser ones affect performance.
While surface imperfections can be labeled "cosmetic defects", they are not purely cosmetic. Optics for laser applications are more sensitive to surface quality as any imperfections can lead to laser-induced damage. In some cases, imperfections in optical elements will be directly imaged as defects in the image plane. Optical systems requiring high radiation intensity tend to be sensitive to any loss of power due to surface scattering caused by imperfections.
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This entry incorporates text from “Surface imperfections (optics)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.