Silicon Carbide Mirrors For Space Applications

Silicon carbide mirrors for aerospace

SiC ceramic material is currently the main aerospace mirror material, widely used in aviation and aerospace scanning mirrors, mirrors, optical systems, etc. Silicon carbide has a high thermal conductivity, nearly a hundred times that of traditional glass materials. Heat transfers faster in silicon carbide than in conventional glass materials. Therefore, the silicon carbide material is used to prepare the reflector, which can minimize the temperature gradient on the mirror surface, and when the ambient temperature changes, the temperature of the entire mirror body can quickly reach the same level.

The commonly used mirror substrate materials in the world include quartz glass, glass-ceramics, silicon carbide, metal beryllium, and carbon fiber/silicon carbide composite materials. Compared with other materials, silicon carbide has greater specific stiffness and thermal stability, which means that when achieving the same optical aperture and precision requirements, silicon carbide mirrors have smaller weight and better thermal stability, so Silicon carbide has also become a leader in the blank material of large-aperture mirrors.