RAPT Industries has developed Reactive Atom Plasma (RAP) processing, a novel plasma-based processed for rapidly shaping and polishing optical and semiconductor materials. The process is deterministic, highly controllable, uses low-cost consumables, and produces easily-scrubbed gaseous waste products. Unlike other contact-based methods for material removal, the RAP process does not produce any subsurface damage. Unlike other plasma and ion-based material removal methods, the RAP process operates at atmospheric pressure. We propose to apply RAP processing to the manufacture of hard-to-machine materials of critical interest to the DOD. These include high-damage threshold laser optics made from oxy-fluoride glass, mirror substrates made of silicon carbide, and CVD diamond.
