Chemical mechanical planarization for high precision optics

For many years, Chemical Mechanical Planarization (CMP) has enabled the fabrication of highperformance multilevel integrated circuits for the electronics industry. While CMP techniques are now being used in the manufacturing of optical devices, the concepts and mechanisms of CMP are not yet fully understood by the optics industry. In this paper, an overview of CMP fundamentals and the potential benefits and challenges of using a CMP approach in producing optics will be presented. Examples across several applications will be discussed.