Hot Isostatic Pressed Beryllium For Large Optics

Large beryllium mirrors are being proposed by NASA, the SDI Organization, and others for a number of space applications. Traditional fabrication methods produce anisotropy and inhomogeneity of material properties that can result in thermally induced dimensional instabilities. In addition, current methods are slow and costly and may be limited to mirror sizes that can be machined from billets with a maximum diameter of about 1.7 m. This paper discusses hot isostatic pressing, the preferred fabrication method for large beryllium mirrors since it can produce dimensionally stable beryllium mirrors in less time and at lower cost than conventional methods.