Shadow penumbras by depth-dependent filtering

A large number of the small optics procurements for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) will be in the form of completely assembled, tested, and cleaned subsystems. These subsystems will be integrated into the NIF at LLNL. To accomplish this task, the procurement packages will include, optical and mechanical drawings, acceptance test and cleanliness requirements. In January 1999, the first such integrated opto-mechanical assembly was received and evaluated at LLNL. With the successful completion of this important trial procurement, we were able to establish the viability of purchasing clean, ready to install, opto-mechanical assemblies from vendors within the optics industry. 32 vendors were chosen from our supplier database for quote, then five were chosen to purchase from. These five vendors represented a cross section of the optics industry. From a ''value'' catalog supplier (that did the whole job internally) to a partnership between three specialty companies, these vendors demonstrated they have the ingenuity and capability to deliver cost competitive, NIF-ready, opto- mechanical assemblies. This paper describes the vendor selection for this procurement, technical requirements including packaging, fabrication, coating, and cleanliness specifications, then testing and verification. It also gives real test results gathered from inspections performedmore » at LLNL that show how our vendors scored on the various requirements.« less