Beam Expansion - Standard Concepts Re-interpreted

Author: Ulrike Fuchs, Sven R. Kiontke
Monday, December 23, 2013
asphericon Inc.

Everyday work in an optics laboratory would be unthinkable without beam expansion systems. They serve to optimally adjust the beam cross sections between the light sources (e.g. lasers) and the subsequent optical elements. Precise illumination of the optically effective surfaces is essential, especially for beam shaping and focusing with high numerical apertures. The most widespread basic principles of afocal beam expansion systems are based on the telescopes of Kepler and Galileo. In the following article, the various modes of action are revealed in more detail and new approaches based on the use of aspherical surfaces are presented and discussed.