Abstract

Lithium niobate (LiNbO₃) is a man-made, birefringent, electro-optically active crystal. We have used LiNbO₃ in the fabrication of 75mm diameter, thin, solid Fabry-Perot etalons [1], and 50mm diameter birefringent plates for a Lyot filter. The tight tolerances on the transmitted wavefront for these components require that the material be of extremely high quality and that the surfaces be polished flat to λ/30, or better. Cutting and grinding of LiNbO₃ presents no problems, since diamond cutting tools and conventional, loose, abrasive grinding can be used, but precision polishing requires special techniques.

© 1996 Optical Society of America