Effect of silicon carbide ceramic coating process on the mirror surface quality

Silicon carbide, as a new reflector material, its excellent physical and chemical properties has been widely recognized by the industry. In order to make SiC mirror better used in space optical system, we used digital coating equipment during its coating process. By using ion-assisted electron evaporation method, we got a complete metal reflective film system on the surface of finely polished silicon carbide mirror. After automated coating process, by adjusting the coating parameters during the process, the surface roughness of silicon carbide improved from 7.8 nm to 5.1 nm, and the average optical reflectance of the surface reached 95% from visible to near-infrared. The metal reflective film system kept well after annealing and firmness test. As a result, the work of this paper will provide an important reference for high-precision coating process on large diameter SiC mirror.