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Coatings

Surface Optics' specialized coatings lab is one of the most sophisticated in the world. With a history dating back to thermal coatings for the Lunar Lander, SOC uses two different processes, vacuum deposition and pigmented paints and four different vacuum chambers (one 11 feet in diameter to coat large space objects).

In the past SOC has coated:

  • Mirrors
  • Reflectors
  • Sub-reflectors
  • Support Structures
  • Antenna Elements
  • Feed Plates
  • Hat Structures
  • Featured Surfaces
  • EM Horns
  • Thermal Blankets
  • RF Transparent Sunshields
  • 3D Carrier Film
  • Aircraft,
  • UAVs
  • Low Observable Surfaces
  • Solar Collectors

The Coatings Process

SOC's specialized coating systems use two different processes

  1. Vacuum deposition
  2. Pigmented paints with controlled pigment/binder constituents.

Vacuum deposited coatings are manufactured using several different techniques; standard in the coating industry:

  1. Resistively heated thermal evaporation
  2. Electron beam evaporation
  3. Ion beam assisted deposition.

These processes are used to produce protected metal mirrors, low emittance thermal shields, lenses, bandpass filters, graphite antenna coatings, and high temperature coatings for composite structures and dielectric mirrors. SOC has a number of contracts with the US Government, defense and commercial related firms for the development and application of specialty coatings.

 

 

 


Coatings have been developed at SOC for :

  • EMI/EMP shielded windows
  • Satellite antenna coatings with controlled solar absorptance and emittance.
  • Micro-optic, directionally coated, IR spectrally tailored low emissive coating.
  • Visually reflective, microwave transparent coating.
  • High durability exo-atmospheric IR coating
  • High efficiency silver based lens coating.
  • Satellite telescope low emittance thermal protective coating
  • Signature/thermal control of ground-based and airborne vehicles

SOC's coating laboratory is fully equipped to provide for the most stringent coating needs with adjacent measurement facilities to confirm coating specifications have been satisfied.

SOC also manufactures thermal/signature control paints using optimization capability of SOC's ScatCad analysis tools for pigment design and the laboratory instrumentation for database development and coating verification. Typical applications for this type of coating are for signature/thermal control of ground-based and airborne vehicles.

 

 

  


Surface Optics Corporation 11555 Rancho Bernardo Rd.San Diego, CA 92127
Phone: 858.675.7404 Fax: 858.675.2028

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