Safe and Easy Cleaning of Astronomical Mirrors with UV Lasers

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A feasibility study will be conducted to determine whether UV excimer lasers can be used to clean aluminum-coated mirror samples that have been contaminated by typical contaminants found on astronomical mirrors. Specific tasks for this program are listed below. A laser cleaning laboratory for cleaning the mirror samples and measuring the effectiveness of the technique shall be set up. Aluminum-coated mirror samples shall be artificially contaminated with contaminants typically found around astronomical mirrors (e.g. sand dust from Manuna Kea and Arizona) and UV laser cleaned. The cleaning parameters (e.g. laser fluence, number of shots per site) shall be varied in order to determine the optimum cleaning procedure. The mirror reflectivity shall be measured before contamination, after contamination, and after laser cleaning. Aluminum-coated mirror samples shall be distributed to selected astronomical observatories to be exposed to the same contaminants that the primary mirror experiences. These mirror samples shall be returned for laser cleaning tests. The reflectivity of the mirror samples shall be measured before shipping to the observatories, after receiving the contaminated mirror samples, and after laser cleaning.