J.D. Owen, M.A. Davies, D. Schmidt, and E.H. Urruti
in CIRP Annals Volume 64, Issue 1, 2015, Pages 113-116
Chalcogenide glasses are important materials for components in thermal imaging systems (IR-optics). While suitable for molding, the machining characteristics of these brittle materials are largely unknown. In this paper, ultra-precision machining data for a common chalcogenide glass (As40Se60) is presented. Data acquired from orthogonal cutting experiments show a transition in cutting mechanics at an uncut chip thickness of approximately one micrometer. This data is used to identify parameters for high-speed milling, and results are used to produce a thermal imaging lens. This paper demonstrates that the milling process is suitable for prototyping and low-batch production of IR-optics in this glass.