Precision Machining And Polishing Of Scintillating Crystals For Large Calorimeters And Hodoscopes

New machining and polishing techniques have been developed for large barium fluoride scintillating crystals that provide crystalline surfaces without sub-surface damage or deformation as verified by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Rutherford Back-scattering (RBS) analyses. Surface roughness of about 10--20 angstroms and sub-micron mechanical tolerances have been demonstrated on large crystal samples. Mass production techniques have also been developed for machining and polishing up to five 50 cm long crystals at one time. We present this technology along with surface studies of barium fluoride crystals polished with this technique. This technology is applicable for a number of new crystal detectors proposed at Colliders including the Barium Fluoride Electromagnetic Calorimeter at SSC, the Crystal Clear Collaboration`s cerium fluoride calorimeter at LHC, and the KTeV and PHENIX scintillating hodoscopes at Fermilab, and RHIC, respectively. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has an active program of study on barium fluoride scintillating crystals for the Barium Fluoride Electromagnetic Calorimeter Collaboration and cerium fluoride and lead fluoride for the Crystal Clear Collaboration. This program has resulted in a number of significant improvements in the mechanical processing, polishing and coating of fluoride crystals. Techniques have been developed using diamond-loaded pitch lapping that can produce 15 angstrom RMSmore » surface finishes over large areas. Also, special polishing fixtures have been designed based on mounting technology developed for the 1.1 m diameter optics used in LLNL`s Nova Laser. These fixtures allow as many as five 25--50 cm long crystals to be polished and lapped at the same time with tolerances satisfying the stringent requirements of crystal calorimeters. We also discuss results on coating barium fluoride with UV reflective layers of magnesium fluoride and aluminum.« less