Ten Scanners For The Effort Of One

A replication process can be used to produce multiple copies of high quality scanners with significantly less effort than required to make originals by the traditional methods. The replication process eliminates the requirement for grinding and polishing. Single facet flat scanner mirror surfaces can be replicated on cast and ribbed aluminum substrates. Non-traditional materials such as alumina and beryllia ceramics with high stiffness-to-weight ratios are practical scanner substrates. Polygon scanners are fabricated in split molds with all facets replicated simultaneously. Pyramidal scanners are made in one-piece molds yielding angular tolerances of better than 5 arc seconds. A 23-faceted replicated internal scanner that yields an x-y raster scan is shown and described. A scanner that uses an array of roof prisms to provide a truely linear scan is also described as a practical replication.