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AssigneeBAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc.
InventorsPeter G. Schunemann, Kevin T. Zawilski
Estimating the term…
A method of making GaP window slabs having largest dimensions of greater than 4 inches and GaAs IR window slabs having largest dimensions of greater than 8 inches, includes slicing and dicing at least one smaller GaAs or GaP single crystal boule, which can be a commercial boule, to form a plurality of rectangular slabs. The slabs are ground to have precisely perpendicular edges, which are polished to be ultra-flat and ultra-smooth, for example to a flatness of at least λ/10, and a roughness Ra of less than 10 nanometers. The slab edges are then aligned and fused via optical-contacting/bonding to create a large GaAs or GaP slab having negligible bond interface losses. A conductive, doped GaAs or GaP layer can be applied to the window for EMI shielding in a subsequent vacuum deposition step, followed by applying anti-reflection (AR) coatings to one or both of the slab faces.
An infrared window comprising a GaAs slab having a slab largest dimension that is greater than eight inches, or a GaP slab having a slab largest dimension that is greater than four inches, said slab being formed by grinding and polishing surrounding sides of a plurality of rectangular parallelepiped slabs, referred to herein as rectangular slabs, and then aligning and contacting the surrounding sides of the rectangular slabs so as to optically bond the rectangular slabs to each other, thereby forming a GaAs monolithic window slab having a largest dimension that is greater than eight inches or a GaP monolithic window slab having a largest dimension that is greater than four inches.
A method of making a GaAs slab having a largest dimension that is greater than eight inches or a GaP slab having a largest dimension that is greater than four inches, the slab being suitable for forming an infrared (IR) transparent window having a largest dimension that is greater than eight inches, the method comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.