Understanding Lenses: Aplanats and Achromats
WEBOptics terminology can be confusing, but it is critical to be fluent in the language when searching for and specifying optical components. This is especially true for multielement lenses, the two most basic of which are …
Aspheric Lenses: Design Considerations | Optics
WEBAspheric 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, aspheres can correct …
Inventing the World’s First Continuous-Wave Laser
WEBMURRAY HILL, N.J., May 21, 2020 — In December 1960, the helium-neon (HeNe) laser, the first laser to generate a continuous beam of light at 1.15 μm, was demonstrated by Ali Javan, William Bennett Jr., and Donald …
Image Intensification: The Technology of Night Vision
WEBImage intensification, the basis of night vision, is a complex conversion of energy particles that occurs within a vacuum tube. An image-intensifier system works by collecting photons through an objective lens, converting them to electrons via a photocathode, increasing the electrical energy with a microchannel plate (MCP), converting the electrical energy back …
Understanding Surface Quality: A Practical Guide - Photonics
WEBSurface 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 incompatible) standards, Mil-PRF-13830B, and ISO 10110.
Laser Measurement Systems: Best Practices - Photonics
WEBPerformance measurement techniques The need to measure laser performance is as old as the laser itself. There have been many tools and techniques that have served the industry well, and they still are in use today but may not be providing the complete story of how your laser is performing.
Polarization Mode Dispersion: Concepts and Measurement
WEBThere are three fundamentally different dispersive phenomena in optical fiber, of which polarization mode dispersion (PMD) is the most complex.In digital multimode fiber systems, a light pulse separates into multiple spatial paths or modes.
Driving Diode Lasers: A Straightforward Procedure - Photonics
WEBSeeking constant power A power regulator guarantees a constant output. When the temperature remains unregulated, however, wavelengths can shift and mode hopping can occur. Even in applications where this does not pose a problem, there should be sufficient thermal dissipation.
Beamsplitters: A Guide for Designers | Optics - Photonics
WEBThe beamsplitter coating for these products is deposited on one side of a 3-mm-thick BK7 plate. The reverse side is coated with an antireflection coating whose reflectivity is only 0.5 percent at an angle of incidence of 45°. At their specific laser line wavelengths, these coatings reflect 50 ±5 percent of the incident radiation.
Colorimetry: How to Measure Color Differences - Photonics
WEBThe use and importance of colorimetry has grown in unison with the increase of global manufacturing and processing. When plastic automotive trim produced on one continent must match a painted metal finish applied on another, for example, an objective and precise description of color becomes an absolute necessity.
Optical Surface Analysis: Focusing on the Fundamentals
WEBGeometry fitting to assess the overall surface shape. Filtering to highlight the aspects of the data that matter for the application. Parameterization to allow those aspects of the data to be traced and controlled. Preprocessing surface data. The first step in data analysis typically aims to replace missing pixels and remove pixels with errant ...
SWIR Applications and Challenges: A Primer - Photonics
WEBOvercoming InGaAs sensors’ weaknesses For these applications, SWIR cameras must output images of a quality high enough that people or machines can analyze them accurately. This is a technical challenge because of the nature of InGaAs sensors. InGaAs sensor architecture. Sensors used in SWIR cameras function similarly to silica-based …
Connectors and Splices: Correct Alignment Spells Success
WEBSC Connectors: These emerged in the early 1990s as the general-purpose connectors of choice and are the recommended interfaces for premises cabling, ATM, Fibre Channel and low-cost FDDI. SC connectors use a 2.5 mm ferrule, push-pull locking mechanism and pull-proof design that prevents a slight pull on the cable from pulling the ferrule out of optical …
Custom Optics | Suppliers | Photonics Buyers' Guide | Photonics Marketplace
WEBCustom Manufacturer. Rainbow Research Optics LLC - Centennial, CO. RRO specializes in custom optics. We focus on wavelength ranges from 193 nm to 14 um. Our manufacturing capabilities include a wide range of optical components including lenses, mirrors, windows, prisms, beamsplitters, filters, coatings, and more.