Scientific-technical investigations for development of optical multifunctional components for deflection, splitting and shaping of light beams

Many optical applications require splitting or deflection of light beams. This usually is achieved by usage of standard plane optical elements such as mirror systems or prismatic elements. However, these components are usually limited to one certain function and the manufacturing process for achieving precise functionality is very demanding. The presented research topic shows the development of new optical multifunctional components that introduce certain advantages compared to existing plane optical components. The basic roof-element configuration is based on glass cuboids joined together under a certain angle that can be fine adjusted during the manufacturing process. The components are therefore rather simply built and robust, and can fulfil different optical functions simultaneously by modifications of the glass cuboids. A process chain was developed for efficient and flexible manufacturing of such plane optical elements. Technical investigations were made on novel manufacturing processes such as ultrasonic assisted grinding and ultrafine grinding for fabrication of the cuboid parts, as well as diffusion joining being one possibility to create the basic roof-element shape.