Optical Tooling For The Functional Alignment Of Tilted And Decentered Optical Trains

Walter Bauke; Eugene W. Cross

doi:10.1117/12.943129

13 August 1984 Optical Tooling For The Functional Alignment Of Tilted And Decentered Optical Trains

Walter Bauke, Eugene W. Cross

Proceedings Volume 0483, Optical Alignment II; (1984) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.943129
Event: 1984 Technical Symposium East, 1984, Arlington, United States

Abstract

Optical systems with tilted and decentered components are being constructed on an ever-larger scale. In its simplest form such a system consists of many flat and spherical elements that are tilted and decentered about a central reference line, creating a rotationally symmetric array of subapertures. The final alignment accuracy largely depends on the precison with which the elements in a sector can be aligned to an arbitarily selected local reference line and to a global coordinate system. The alignment procedure must consider for practical reasons the use of standard optical test techniques performed with commercially available equipment. The techniques are based on autocollimation and boresighting, and the instrumentation used to project the test beams should be fundamental optical tooling or test instruments and surveying equipment. The alignment procedures are performed on an array of over 207 optical elements, which are arranged in rotational symmetry in a large vacuum/pressure vessel (power amplifier) as part of the Antares Laser at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The optical train of each sector (subaperture) is dissected into discrete functional longitudinal segments, for each of which an alignment theory is developed using functional alignment and quasi-alignment as overriding philosophies. The optical path must duplicate or approximate the path of the operational device over the range of the segment being aligned. To facilitate the techniques, we project alignment reference beams along the optical axes of the individual components and add auxiliary reference targets, reflectors, or simple modifications to standard instruments.

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Walter Bauke and Eugene W. Cross "Optical Tooling For The Functional Alignment Of Tilted And Decentered Optical Trains", Proc. SPIE 0483, Optical Alignment II, (13 August 1984); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.943129

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KEYWORDS

Mirrors

Optical alignment

Optical components

Alignment procedures

Near field optics

Optical amplifiers

Telescopes

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