Balancing cost with completeness: Specifying optics for the National Ignition Facility

During the second half of the 1990's, the fabrication technologies used to make large, precision glass optics will continue to undergo profound changes, motivated by increased accuracy in metrology, increased requirements of precision, and decreasing production costs. Livermore intends to continue to benefit from these advances in its construction of the National Ignition Facility. In order to do so cost effectively, however, it is necessary to generate specifications which balance the requirements for precision with the desire to contain costs. Key to this is to specify as precisely and simply as possible what is required, balanced with the minimum necessary metrology and certification.