Ultra-low density aerogel optical applications

Despite the extremely low density and the hence low weight of aerogel materials, the applicability of these materials to reflective applications has had little attention due to the high porosities exhibited by the materials. This high porosity yields an intrinsically rough but uniform surface topology for aerogel of density in the low hundreds of milligrams per cubic centimeter and a fractal surface geometry for lower density aerogel (densities of the order of tens of milligrams per cubic centimeter). This paper presents new results of aerogel materials used as ultra-light substrates for reflective coatings by way of surface machining, polishing, and planarization prior to metallization, and the optical characterization thereof.