Review on mid-spatial frequency error suppression in optical components manufacturing

With the growing prosperity of optical systems, the demand for high-precision optical components is becoming increasingly urgent. The mid-spatial frequency error generated on the optical components surface during the manufacturing process has become a bottleneck that restricts the improvement of the manufacturing accuracy of optical components. In this review, the processing techniques and polishing principles for optical components manufacturing are first briefly described and the source of mid-spatial frequency error is analyzed in detail. Then, several widely adopted suppression techniques in optical components manufacturing for mid-spatial frequency error are introduced in detail, such as the optimization methods for polishing path and polishing tool structure, and ion beam layer removal method. Moreover, their basic concepts, polishing mechanisms, development history, and characteristics are presented. Finally, the development of suppression techniques of mid-spatial frequency error for optical polishing is summarized and prospected. This paper analyses the problems of mid-spatial frequency error in optical components manufacturing, which may be worth investigating in the future.