Removal characteristics of plasma chemical vaporization machining with a pipe electrode for optical fabrication.

Plasma chemical vaporization machining (CVM) is a high-precision chemical shaping method using rf plasma generated in the proximity of an electrode in an atmospheric environment. The purpose of the present study is to clarify the removal characteristics of plasma CVM using a pipe electrode. Polished fused silica plates were processed by plasma CVM, polishing, and precision grinding under various conditions. The removal rate of plasma CVM was about 4 to 1100 times faster than that of polishing, and the maximum removal rate was almost equal to that of precision grinding. The roughness of the resultant surfaces was almost the same as that of the polished surfaces.