Thermo-optical simulation and experiment for the assessment of single, hollow, and large aperture retroreflector for lunar laser ranging

A single aperture and hollow retroreflector [corner-cube mirror (CCM)] that in principle has no internal optical path difference is a key instrument for achieving lunar laser ranging one order or more accurate than the current level (~2 cm). We are developing CCM whose aperture is 20 cm with optimized dihedral angles. The 20-cm CCM yields two times peak height for returned laser pulse compared with Apollo 15’s retroreflector. Two investigations were conducted to confirm the feasibility of the 20-cm aperture CCM. The first is thermo-optical simulation and evaluation of the 20-cm CCM in the lunar thermal environment. Through this simulation, it has turned out for the first time that 20-cm aperture CCM made of single-crystal Si or “ultra-low expansion glass–ceramics” such as CCZ-EX ® (OHARA Inc.) can be used for CCM with no thermal control, if the perfectly fixed point of CCM is limited to one. The second is annealing and shear loading experiments of single-crystal silicon (Si) samples. Through these experiments, high-temperature annealing from 100 to 1000 °C is confirmed to be effective for the enhancement of the adhesive strength between optically contacted surfaces with no optical damage in roughness and accuracy, indicating that this annealing process would enhance the rigidity of CCM fabricated by the optically contacted plates.