Test facility for long-focal-length mirrors

Testing the optical figure and focal length of laser mirrors with radii of curvature in the 10 to 100 m range is difficult. If the mirror is concave, a source can be placed at the center of curvature. Air turbulence over these long path lengths makes interferometry difficult, however, and greatly reduces measurement accuracy. Convex mirrors are even more difficult to measure. A solution is to produce a slightly converging or diverging beam from a virtual source. The actual optical path in which turbulence may develop can then be made very short. A three-element test system consisting of a parabola, a transmission sphere, and a folding flat is described. It is capable of measuring both optical flats and convex or concave mirrors up to 40 cm in diameter with radii of curvature from 10 m to infinity. System accuracy is 1/20th wave rms in optical figure and 0.2% in radius of curvature. A discussion is given of the systematic errors introduced when the parabola is used in other than parallel light.