Fabrication of C-SiC composite mirrors

A novel technology to fabricate ultralightweight mirrors was demonstrated. High thermal conductivity C-C composite integrated honeycomb face sheets were fabricated using a tape layup. Chemical vapor deposition (CVR)-SiC was employed to produce a functionally graded transition in CTE from about 0 ppm/K to about 4.5 ppm/K A crack free CVR-SiC surface was achieved which was subsequently polished. A 1 kg/m/sup 2/ SiC mirror structure was demonstrated for a 12 cm structure and 1 kg/m/sup 2/ was demonstrated for a 0.5 in structure.