{"id":128191,"date":"2020-10-05T09:00:18","date_gmt":"2020-10-05T19:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=128191"},"modified":"2020-10-05T12:51:13","modified_gmt":"2020-10-05T22:51:13","slug":"new-mirror-technology-for-green-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2020\/10\/05\/new-mirror-technology-for-green-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"UH<\/abbr> astronomers develop new mirror technology, grow green industry"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"kuhn
IfA<\/abbr> Astronomer Jeff Kuhn and Kevin Lewis from MorphOptic adjust glass in commercial 3D printer before laser testing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Large reflecting mirrors lie at the heart of the world\u2019s most powerful telescopes that observe distant galaxies, stars and planets. A company formed by University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa Institute for Astronomy<\/a> (IfA<\/abbr>) scientists and students through UH<\/abbr>\u2019s innovation incubator<\/a> has demonstrated a new way to shape thin mirror surfaces using high-power lasers. These mirrors depend on precise surface shapes that are accurate to just a few millionths of an inch.<\/p>\n

Up until now such glass surfaces have been shaped using a slow, painstaking process of repeated grinding and measuring. The newly formed company, MorphOptic Inc.<\/abbr>, applied for a patent for a much faster, more efficient technique called “curvature polishing” that achieves better mirror surfaces.<\/p>\n

The technology uses a large 3D printer and an industrial CO2<\/abbr> laser to create a highly reflective and curved surface. MorphOptic Inc.<\/abbr> has demonstrated it can even shape window glass to create optical-quality mirror surfaces.<\/p>\n

“These methods have the potential to decrease the cost and fabrication time of mirrors as big as five meters across by a factor of 10 or more,” explained MorphOptic CEO<\/abbr> and IfA<\/abbr> Astronomer Jeff Kuhn<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s process generates thin mirrors with an ultra-smooth reflective surface that can preserve the focusing power of a mirror without scattering the incident light.<\/p>\n

“We hope to develop this novel technology to create a unique manufacturing capability and in so doing, support job growth and also establish a new ‘green’ high tech industry unique to Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>,” said IfA<\/abbr> Scientist Joe Ritter<\/strong>, who founded MorphOptic.<\/p>\n

The company expects the first communication-industry mirrors to be completed within 12 months. UH<\/abbr> is a co-owner of this new technology. The UH<\/abbr> Office of Innovation and Commercialization will also play a leading role in its patenting and commercialization efforts.<\/p>\n

\"kuhn
3D printer melts glass surface using computer algorithm to shape optical components<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UH<\/abbr> IfA<\/abbr> scientists, students form company after developing high-power laser technique to shape mirrors for telescopes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[34,35,1363,1432,1164,9],"class_list":["post-128191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-astronomy","tag-institute-for-astronomy","tag-manoa-research","tag-office-of-innovation-and-commercialization","tag-telescope","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128191"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":128252,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128191\/revisions\/128252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}