Iron-particle-polishing-tool behavior during magnetic field-assisted finishing of fused silica

Commercial processing of fused silica components leaves behind contaminants and damage that can hinder the component performance in a lasing system. Magnetic field-assisted finishing (MAF) has been applied to remove the contamination from fused silica using a polishing cloth-based tool, which was hindered by tool degradation. This paper proposes replacing the polishing cloth with iron particles, which align in a brush around the tool magnet. These experiments explore the behavior of the iron particle tool and the resultant polishing characteristics. A 43% improvement over the baseline laser induced damage threshold demonstrates the feasibility of the tool for removing contamination.