Quantum Coating Inc Provides Gold Reflective Mirror Coatings for James Webb Space Telescope

Quantum Coating, Inc., a leading optical coating company for the avionics and aerospace industries, has nearly completed a contract to deposit its proprietary gold coating on all reflective optics of the James Webb Space Telescope.

Since being awarded the contract in 2007, QCI has worked systematically towards a successful program conclusion, and to date, has coated more than two thirds of the telescope mirrors.

According to Ian Stevenson, Director of Coating at QCI, the James Webb Space Telescope includes a number of reflective optics. The principal assembly is the Primary Mirror, which is an array of 18 hexagons, each 1.3m across and made from light weighted beryllium (Be). There are also Secondary, Tertiary and Fine Steering mirrors.

“The JWST mirror coating program brought together several technical challenges,” Stevenson reports. “Our team met the challenges head on, handling large, fragile, almost irreplaceable Be substrates; achieving near-perfect thickness uniformity over 1.3m curved surfaces; and managing film reflectance, stress and durability with the ability to survive cyogenic cycling to near absolute zero.”

Stevenson emphasizes that the first two years of the contract were devoted to plant acquisition and facilities upgrades. A custom designed 96” coating chamber was built and installed in a new Class 1000 clean room environment. Investment was made in metrology for reflectance, thickness, stress and micro roughness, as well as a thermal cycling station capable of reaching 10K.

Process development and qualification continued into 2010, when the first flight mirrors were coated. Since then, QCI has coated one or two mirrors each month. Currently, there are only six primary hexagons and the secondary mirror still to process.

For more information about the optical coatings provided by QCI, please visit http://www.quantumcoating.com.

About Quantum Coating, Inc.
Quantum Coating, Inc. (QCI) is one of today’s leading optical coating companies and a premier supplier of coated windows and display panels for avionics, aerospace and related industries. In addition to BBAR coatings, ITO coatings, reflective mirror coatings, hydrophobic/hydrophilic coatings, and laser coatings, QCI routinely produces transparent conductive coatings, anti-reflective coating (BBAR) and multilayer all-dielectric filters for night vision (NVIS) on flat panels, filters and precision optics.

For more information about Quantum Coating, Inc., please visit http://www.quantumcoating.com.

Quantum Coating, Inc.
1259 North Church Street,
Building 1
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone: (856) 231-0706
Website: http://www.quantumcoating.com
Contact: Ian Stevenson
Email: istevenson@quantumcoating.com

This release was published on openPR.