New optical 2D modulator jacketed in rotational plastic optics

Horst-Guenther Heinol; Zhanping Xu; Rudolf Schwarte; Otmar Loffeld

doi:10.1117/12.227922

1 December 1995 New optical 2D modulator jacketed in rotational plastic optics

Horst-Guenther Heinol, Zhanping Xu, Rudolf Schwarte, Otmar Loffeld

Proceedings Volume 2600, Design, Fabrication, and Applications of Precision Plastic Optics; (1995) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.227922
Event: Photonics East '95, 1995, Philadelphia, PA, United States

Abstract

Optical and therefore nontactile 3D-measurement techniques are of increasing interest in industrial automation, especially in quality control and guidance of automotive vehicles. In connection with these demands, a new type of optical modulator jacketed in rotational plastic optics is introduced in the paper. Furthermore first results obtained by simulation studies will be presented. A simple nevertheless effective way of obtaining 3D information is to illuminate the whole 3D object or scene simultaneously with rf-modulated light. This can be well achieved by using the suggested optical modulator that incorporates the properties of a high aperture and minimum aberration in the 3D-imaging process. The mentioned modulator makes use of the effect of Frustrated Total Reflection (FTR). To exploit this FTR effect in an optical 2D mixer, the gap width between media of higher dense has to be modulated by an rf-voltage applied to a piezo crystal as an rf-controlled tuning medium. Considering the limited modulation bandwidth due to the parasitic capacity of the piezo crystal, the geometrical dimension of the modulator must be made as small as possible. Therefore the spot of the light is collimated at the focal point of the jacketing rotational ellipsoid. The integrated component made of plastic optics and piezo crystal plays a substantial role for the optical modulation and imaging. Some simulation results of this optical device show that the inherent non-linearity of the FTR modulator may be neglected in practical applications, thus yielding a high modulation depth. Furthermore, a 3D-image system adopting this plastic-made optics is also depicted in the paper, which is robust and handy for several industrial applications.

Citation Download Citation

Horst-Guenther Heinol, Zhanping Xu, Rudolf Schwarte, and Otmar Loffeld "New optical 2D modulator jacketed in rotational plastic optics", Proc. SPIE 2600, Design, Fabrication, and Applications of Precision Plastic Optics, (1 December 1995); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.227922

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