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39 articles
Photonics Handbook
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Diffraction Gratings: Selection Guidelines
David Ventola, Optometrics Corp., an Omega Optical Holdings company
Diffraction gratings are optical components with a periodic structure that separate light into beams traveling in predictable directions based on their wavelength. The grating acts as the dispersive...
Scatter and BSDF Measurements: Theory and Practice
Richard Pfisterer, Photon Engineering LLC
Except for direct illumination from the sun, laser, or other light source, everything we see or detect is ultimately scattered light. Light can be scattered or rescattered during its propagation to...
Measuring Aspheres: Selecting the Best Technique
Amy Frantz, Edmund Optics Inc.
The benefits of aspheric lenses are numerous: They allow for a reduction in spherical aberrations and are ideal for focusing or collimating light, as they can achieve a low ƒ-number. Aspheres...
Machine Vision Cameras: Making the Right Selection
GLEN AHEARN, TELEDYNE DALSA
Technological advances have resulted in new, higher-quality sensors that enable machine vision cameras to deliver greater features and functionality at a lower cost than ever before. These factors...
Industrial Lasers: An Introduction to Process Qualification
JOCHEN DEILE AND FRANK GAEBLER, COHERENT INC.
Materials processing with lasers is actually a broad term for a diverse range of applications. The major categories of these uses, and the lasers that service them, are summarized Table 1. At one...
Nanopositioning: A Step Ahead
Scott Jordan, Brian Lula, and Stefan Vorndran, PI (Physik Instrumente) LP
By its original definition, a nanopositioning device is a mechanism capable of repeatedly delivering motion in increments as small as one nanometer. Lately demands from industry and research have...
Laser Measurement Systems: Best Practices
JOHN MCCAULEY, MKS Ophir
Given the pace at which technology advances, there always seems to be a learning curve. With the abundance of consumer electronics available, there typically is no right or wrong way to use these...
Aspheric Lenses: Optimizing the Design
Jeremy Govier, Edmund Optics Inc.
With the understanding of aspheric lens manufacturing provided in part one of this article, designers have the tools to optimize their aspheres; the next step is to understand how to specify and...
Selecting a Photodetector: Using WITS$ as a Rough Guide
Earl Hergert and Slawomir Piatek, Hamamatsu Corporation
Light is a versatile tool for investigating physical and chemical processes in nature. Any specific system being analyzed may, through the light it emits or reflects, communicate information about...
Flat Optics: Considerations When Buying
Michael Naselaris, Sydor Optics Inc.
Flat optics generally perform three main functions: They transmit light (windows), reflect light (mirrors), and fold light (prisms). While most optical manufacturers make spherical and flat optics, a...
Aspheric Lenses: Design Considerations
Jeremy Govier, Edmund Optics Inc.
Aspheric surfaces are powerful tools that combine the optical corrections of multiple lenses into a single element (Figure 1) and affect performance in ways that spherical optics cannot. For example,...
Optical Design Software: Fundamentals and Potential
Richard Pfisterer, Photon Engineering LLC
Optical design software allows the user to develop a configuration of optical elements that manipulate the trajectory of light for the purposes of creating an image, illuminating a target, coupling...
Laser Operation: Temperature Control and Mount Selection
Paul Corr and Patrick Klima, Arroyo Instruments LLC
As you operate your laser, only a portion of the electrical power sourced from your laser driver converts to light energy. The remainder turns to heat, and the buildup of that thermal energy presents...
Lasers for Microscopy: Major Trends
Marco Arrigoni, Nigel Gallaher, Darryl McCoy, Volker Pfeufer, Matthias Schulze, and Daniel Callen, Coherent Inc.
Laser development for the microscopy market continues to be driven by key trends in applications, which currently include superresolution techniques, multiphoton applications in optogenetics and...
Understanding Surface Quality: A Practical Guide
John C. Smith, Rocky Mountain Instrument Co. (RMI)
Surface quality has become one of the most poorly understood specifications in the optics industry. A significant portion of the confusion stems from the two major competing (and largely...
Optical Materials: Double-Sided Lapping and Polishing
Michael Naselaris, Sydor Optics Inc.
Double-sided processing is a batch-type process that uses planetary action — generally with loose, abrasive particles suspended in a liquid vehicle — to abrade material almost equally...
Ultraviolet Filters: Past and Present
Sarah Locknar, PhD, Omega Optical LLC, an Omega Optical Holdings company
In their earliest forms, UV bandpass filters that were optimized for wavelengths less than 400 nm, such as the Schott UG or the Hoya U-series, were constructed of absorbing compounds in glass. Such...
Lasers: Understanding the Basics
Coherent Inc.
Over 60 years have passed since the first demonstration of a laser in 1960. After the initial spark of interest, lasers were for a while categorized as “a solution waiting for a problem,”...
Light-Emitting Diodes: A Primer
Opto Diode Corporation, An ITW company
The wavelength range of commercially available LEDs with single-element output power of at least 5 mW is 275 to 950 nm. Each wavelength range is made from a specific semiconductor material family,...
Thin-Film Coatings: A Buyers' Guide
Trey Turner and Roger Kirschner, Research Electro-Optics Inc. (REO)
What are thin-film coatings? The purpose of any optical thin-film coating is to modify the transmittance and reflectance properties of the substrate material to which they are applied. Most coatings...
Passive Athermalization: Maintaining Optical Performance Over Temperature
Janos Engineering, Janos Technology LLC
For rotationally symmetric optical systems, either the lens or the detector moves along the optical axis to maintain optical performance. If the compensating axial motion is accomplished without the...
Optical Coatings: Improving Traditional Technology
Arthur T. Howe, CHROMATEL; Mervyn Davis, Nordiko Technical Services Ltd.; and David Pearson, Pearsonics Ltd.
The common polycrystalline materials used for optical thin-film materials do not satisfy the requirements of telecommunications because of the instabilities caused by moisture absorption in their...
Excimer Lasers: Photonic Stamps with Micron Resolution
Coherent, Inc.
Excimers are pulsed gas lasers that deliver high output power and pulse energies in the ultraviolet and deep-ultraviolet wavelengths. This enables them to power applications that cannot be supported...
Component Choices: Avoiding Tolerancing Mistakes
Warren J. Smith, Rockwell Collins Optronics
To the novice or casual user of optics, the acquisition of an optical system can be a very difficult experience. Failure to understand the ground rules can result in unnecessarily high cost, late...
Beryllium Mirrors: Refinements Enable New Applications
Vladimir Vudler and Peter Richard, Hardric Laboratories, Inc.
With a specific gravity of 1.85 g/cm3, beryllium is the lightest metal that is workable. It is 45 percent lighter than aluminum and approximately five times as stiff. Its stiffness to weight ratio...
Nd:YAG Lasers: Standing the Test of Time
Quantel USA
The ubiquitous Nd:YAG laser has played many roles over the years. For the military, it has provided rangefinding and target designation capabilities. When used with nonlinear optics or as a pump...
Imaging Colorimetry: Accuracy in Display and Light Source Metrology
Ron Rykowski and Hubert Kostal, Radiant Imaging, Inc.
The market for flat panel displays (FPDs) has undergone tremendous growth, driven mostly by increased demand for televisions, cell phones, computers, digital cameras and MP3 players. Similarly,...
High-Speed Video: Selecting a Slow-Motion Imaging System
Andrew Bridges, Photron USA, Inc.
There is a growing market for imaging systems that provides an immediate, slow-motion view of a process that allows one to see events that happen too quickly for the human eye to perceive or...
Connectors and Splices: Correct Alignment Spells Success
Paula Trindell, Tyco Electronics
Just as an electronic connector provides a pluggable connection between electronic circuits, a fiber optic connector provides an optical one. The goal is joining a fiber to a transmitter, receiver or...
Illumination Design and Analysis Software: A Vital Tool in the Designer’s Kit
Breault Research Organization, Inc.
Illumination design has developed rapidly to include not only automotive headlamps and street lamps, but also backlit displays, fluorescent panel lighting, light-emitting diode or laser sources, and...
Laser Diodes: Specification Guidelines
Intense Ltd.
While some design engineers know exactly what they need from their laser diode, others may choose a partner to navigate what can be a complex development process. Laser diode manufacturers know which...
Photonic Component Manufacturing: Moving Toward Automation
Bruce W. Hueners and Michael K. Formica, Palomar Technologies
Manufacturing the laser diode is complicated by the existence of multiple proprietary techniques and intellectual property barriers together with complex device physics and unique materials. ...
Optical Components: Finding Your Way Through the Maze
CVI Melles Griot
Lenses come in a variety of shapes, sizes and materials. They can be made of a single piece of glass or have multiple elements; their surfaces can be spherical, aspheric or cylindrical; they can be...
Solid-State Lasers: Lower Noise Means Higher Performance
Kenneth Ibbs and Alex Laymon, DPSS Lasers, Inc.
Many linear materials proceseqsing applications call for lasers with continuous-wave (CW) output. For example, early stereolithography systems were based on CW lasers such as argon-ion or HeCd. To...
Laser Scanning Systems: Optimizing Performance
Yuhong Huang and Eric Ulmer, General Scanning
To obtain optimal performance from a laser scanning system, the system integrator must carefully weigh the effects of each component and consider how best to implement hardware and software to...
Characterizing High-Speed Transmitters: The Emphasis Is on Waveforms
Greg D. Le Cheminant, Agilent Technologies
An indicator of how well the entire system performs is a measurement called bit-error-ratio (BER). Acceptable BERs range from one error per billion to one per trillion bits transmitted. It is rare...
SWIR Imaging: An Industrial Processing Tool
Sensors Unlimited Inc., A Collins Aerospace company
Imaging has long been used in industrial processes to measure, monitor, control, or otherwise manage the production of goods. The challenge to the process designer is to develop a tool that captures...
Spectrum Analysis for DWDM: New Instruments Meet the Challenge
Francis Audet, EXFO
As system and cable installers try to optimize their links, the preferred method has become high-speed DWDM. This demand for bandwidth has led to the development of new test and measurement...
Machine Vision Lighting: A First-Order Consideration
SCHOTT North America, Inc., Fiber Optics
In the beginning, automated inspection focused on the camera and optics, the algorithms, the interface hardware and the processor. Only rarely was attention paid to the lighting system or lighting...
Photonics Handbook
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