Reference Articles 1 - 100 of 144
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Bonding Components
Optical bonding improves sunlight readability and enhances mechanical and thermal performance of displays. Dontech is a leading designer and manufacturer of optical bonding components including: Cover...(read more)
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Optical Bonding Materials
Because most types of glass have a refractive index of 1.5, most adhesives used for optical bonding have a similar refractive index. Depending on the application, silicone, epoxy, acrylated urethane...(read more)
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Ultra-Precise 6D-Measuring System for Optical Surfaces (.pdf)
Inserts for precision optical molds make high demands on the testing process. Today, such testing can easily be automated with the help of interferometric measuring devices. Parallel-kinematics...(read more)
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Rapid Scanning Applications Drive Mirror Design (.pdf)
CTI Chief Scientist David Brown has developed several scanning mirrors for high speed applications using a variety of substrate materials and various "lightweighting" approaches. The optimum method...(read more)
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Damage Thresholds of Optical Coatings (UV to near-IR) (.pdf)
With laser power levels rising steadily it has become more and more important to improve optical coatings with respect to their laser damage threshold (LDT)....(read more)
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How to Choose the Right Optic (.pdf)
With the variety of choices available, it can be a daunting task to specify and choose the right optic for a given application....(read more)
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Optical Materials (.pdf)
This article describes different types of optical materials....(read more)
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Polarization Tutorial (.pdf)
Four numbers are required to describe a single plane wave Fourier component traveling in the +z direction. These can be thought of as the amplitude and phase shift of the field along two orthogonal...(read more)
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Waveplates (.pdf)
Waveplates operate by imparting unequal phase shifts to orthogonally polarized field components of an incident wave. This causes the conversion of one polarization state into another....(read more)
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Dispersion Equations for Optical Materials (.pdf)
We use a Sellmeir equation to describe the dispersion of common materials, except crystal quartz....(read more)
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Lens Terminology (.pdf)
The following definitions refer to the singlet lens diagram below. In the paraxial limit, however, any optical system can be reduced to the specification of the positions of the principal and focal...(read more)
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Multi-Element Lenses (.pdf)
A multi-element lens system is required when the aberrations of a singlet lens are too large to satisfy focusing requirements. CVI offers two and three element lenses for use at focal ratios where...(read more)
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Optical Filter Specifications (.pdf)
Following is a short review of filter specifications to assist you in formulating requirements for your particular application....(read more)
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Optical Specifications (.pdf)
This document discusses different optical specifications....(read more)
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Perplexed by Polarizers? (.pdf)
When engineers, chemists and physicists discuss polarization, they could be talking about anything from the diffraction efficiency of a hologram to the precisions of a micromachining laser to the...(read more)
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Ultra-Narrow-Band Tunable Laserline Notch Filter (.pdf)
We report on an angularly tunable laserline notch filter from 760 to 785 nm with optical density of 5.7, 3 dB bandwidth of 9 cm-1 (0.55 nm) and greater than 80% transmission. The notch filter is a...(read more)
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Compact Self-aligned External Cavity Lasers Using Volume Gratings (.pdf)
We experimentally demonstrate a compact self-aligned external cavity 25W high power laser diode bar at 976 nm tunable over 0.5 nm with a bandwidth of 0.25 nm. The external cavity is based on double...(read more)
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High Power 7-GHz Bandwidth External-Cavity Diode Laser Array and its Use in Optically Pumping Singlet Delta Oxygen (.pdf)
Using a 14mm thick volume Bragg grating, spectral bandwidth of a cw-operated diode laser array is narrowed to 7GHz 9FWHM)....(read more)
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High Power Dense Spectral Combination Using Commercially Available Lasers and VHG's (.pdf)
Kilowatt optical power from fiber-coupled high power semi-conductor lasers (HPSLs) is commercially available on the market [1]. This power level is achieved by combining the output of many lasers...(read more)
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Power Stabilization of the Dual-Mode Laser Using Volume Holographic Gratings (.pdf)
We present a power stabilization method for a dual-mode Ti:Sapphire ring cavity laser. Without stabilization, mode competition caused the output power of the two modes to fluctuate by approximately 10...(read more)
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Reliable LEDs for Automotive Grade Optocouplers - White Paper (.pdf)
One of the key enablers for optocouplers to handle auto¬motive grade 1 applications is the use of very high per¬formance LEDs. The LED light output dropping by less than 0.2%/°C, aids in achieving...(read more)
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Retardation Plate Theory (.pdf)
A retardation plate is an optically transparent material which resolves a beam of polarized light into two orthogonal components; retards the phase of one component relative to the other; then...(read more)
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The Importance of LED Thermal Management
Everywhere you go, LEDs are touted as the practical solution to a world going 'green.' They are an efficient, reliable and cool-to-the-touch lighting solution. Almost. It is correct to say that high...(read more)
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Focusing Objective Theory (.pdf)
Some focusing applications may require a higher degree of aberration correction than can be achieved in single lenses such as Bestforms. Whether correction over larger apertures, several wavelengths...(read more)
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Precision Refractive Zoom Lens with Long Focal Length (.pdf)
Developed for the Army's White Sands Missile Range, this precision zoom lens consists of 16 refractive elements with three stationary lens groups and two moving lens groups. Using optical...(read more)
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Scanning Lens Theory (.pdf)
A retardation plate is an optically transparent material which resolves a beam of polarized light into two orthogonal components; retards the phase of one component relative to the other; then...(read more)
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Procedure for Cleaning Optics
Kentek presents a simple protocol for cleaning optics and lenses....(read more)
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Physics - Nanohole Plasmons in Optically Thin Gold Films
The optical properties of single nanoholes in optically thin (t ) 20 nm) gold films on glass have been studied experimentally and theoretically. The measured elastic scattering spectra from the...(read more)
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High Spatial Resolution Measurement of Volume Holographic Gratings
The conventional approach for measuring volume holographic gratings typically requires measuring the transmitted and diffracted beams simultaneously while varying the angle of incidence. To obtain the...(read more)
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Introduction to Volume Holographic Gratings (VHG)
Volume holographic gratings (VHG) are diffractive elements consisting of a periodic phase or absorption perturbation throughout the entire volume of the element. When a beam of incident light...(read more)
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Laser Stabilization with PowerLockerTM VHG
The fine spectral processing capability of volume holographic gratings - holographic media where the grating is physically present the grating is physically present through its volume with a thickness...(read more)
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Multi-Spectral Imaging
We report on a volume holographic imaging spectrometer (VHIS) system which allows retrieval of a scene's two-dimensional spatial information as well as its spectral information. This is performed...(read more)
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Optical Filter Guide
In the high technology work of constant change, one element, the "High Precision Optical Interference Filter" has remained essentially unchanged for almost 40 years. These extremely compact optical...(read more)
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ECCOSORB® Coating 300 Solves Interference/Compliance Problem for Leading Optical Networking Manufacturer
Interference problems in high power optical switching and long haul telecom equipment at a leading manufacturer of optical networking equipment resulted in an emergency call for a simple answer to a...(read more)
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IR Absorption in Sapphire
Investigations of the optical characteristics of lattice defects make it possible to draw definite conclusions on both nature and structure of the defects. Absorption bands which correspond to valence...(read more)
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Optical Absorption in Sapphire
Optical absorption over a large dynamic range obtained by two different experimental techniques is reported for an un-doped alpha alumina single crystal. Absorption data are presented in two energy...(read more)
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Optical Properties of Aluminum Oxide: Determined from Vacuum Ultraviolet and Electron Energy-Loss Spectroscopies
Alumina has a variety of applications as a structural ceramic and as an optical material, for example, in sodium-vapor arc lamps and in thin-film devices. The latter applications make use of the...(read more)
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Optical Properties of Single-Crystal Sapphire Fibers
Single-crystal sapphire fibers have been grown with the laser-heated pedestal-growth method with losses as low as 0.3 dB/m at 2.94 um. With the incorporation of a computer-controlled feedback system,...(read more)
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Sapphire Luminescence - F Centers
On the basis of an extensive study of the optical behavior of neutron-bombarded crystalline sapphire we proposed that oxygen vacancies with one electron (F centers) and two electrons (F centers) are...(read more)
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Cleaning Optics
After purchasing an optical component, exercising proper care can maintain its quality and extend its useable lifetime. Choose the proper cleaning supplies and using the proper techniques are as...(read more)
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Visual Color Matching
Color is one of the most important factors we as human use to inspect and differentiate objects. On a daily basis we use color to make a variety of decisions. Is this food edible? Do my socks match?...(read more)
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Optical Metrology for Large Telescope Optics
In recent years the demand for meter-scale optical elements has increased significantly, driven by growth in terrestrial and satellite-based astronomy, and defense and security applications. Laser...(read more)
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Pixelated Mask Spatial Carrier Phase Shifting Interferometry Algorithms and Associated Errors
Determination of the spatial variations of optical phase is of primary importance in the fields of optical testing and metrology, optical recording of wavefronts, optical information processing, and...(read more)
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Canon Galvano Scanner
Galvano scanners are responsible for the high-speed, high-precision control of mirror angles, making them a critical component for patterning on high-density multi-layer substrates for mobile phone...(read more)
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Optics & Lenses - Industry Glossary
The failure of an optical lens to produce an exact point-to-point correspondence between the object and its resulting image. Various types are chromatic, spherical, coma, astigmatism and distortion....(read more)
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"Hard" IBS (Ion-Beam Sputter) Coating Technology
Conventional narrowband interference filters are fabricated in two steps - one to determine the center wavelength and bandwidth of the filter, and a second step to determine its blocking capabilities....(read more)
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An Introduction to Optical Coatings
Optical coatings are used to manipulate the reflectance and transmittance of an optical component. Typical coating examples include: Antireflection Coatings which reduce the amount of light reflected...(read more)
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Anti-Reflection Coatings
Optical coatings can be critical in an application. Coatings are used to either increase the transmission of light by reducing back reflections (as in the case of lenses, windows, etc.) or to increase...(read more)
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Choosing the Correct Illumination
Often, a customer struggles with contrast and resolution problems in an imaging system, while underestimating the power of proper illumination. In fact, desired image quality can typically be met by...(read more)
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Choosing the Correct Testing Target
Test targets can be used to evaluate or calibrate an imaging system's performance. Correct assessment of an imaging system is used in certifying proper measurements, establishing a baseline between...(read more)
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Cleaning Optics
After purchasing an optical component, exercising proper care can maintain its quality and extend its usable lifetime. Choosing the proper cleaning supplies and using the proper techniques are as...(read more)
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Correcting Perspective Errors with Telecentricity
In this example, a system is required to inspect the prototype of a hardware computer key connector to verify the placement of its pins. This is a laboratory setup requiring no automation. A precise...(read more)
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Frequently Asked Questions on Optics: Part 1
Each glass type has its own set of specific characteristics. We have selected the best glass types available to produce optimal results for each individual lens design. This is the most significant in...(read more)
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Frequently Asked Questions on Optics: Part 2
The axis of a linear polarizer determines the plane of polarization that the polarizer passes. There are two ways of finding the axis of a polarizer. A simple method is to start with a known polarizer...(read more)
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Gauging Depth of Field in Your Imaging System
Over the years, we have answered countless questions regarding lens performance. Of those questions, none have been more difficult to define than requests for depth of field. The reason for this...(read more)
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Glass Material Specifications
Selecting a glass material is important since different glass types have different characteristics. Edmund Optics offers a wide variety of glass types which can be selected on the basis of the...(read more)
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Glass Material Specifications
Selecting a glass material is important since different glass types have different characteristics. Edmund Optics offers a wide variety of glass types which can be selected on the basis of the...(read more)
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Imaging Case Study
Defining your System Parameters: It is important to establish the fundamental system parameters for your application. From the fundamental parameters (FOV, WD, Resolution, etc.) and a few...(read more)
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Integration of Optical Systems
These application notes are relevant to both off-the-shelf and custom integration for imaging, as well as non-imaging systems. Please feel free to discuss any of the content in these notes or any...(read more)
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Keys to Cost Effective Optical Design and Tolerancing
As most designers know, optical design software can be a powerful tool. But it's just that, a "tool". The proper interpretation of optimized results is just as important as the input of correct...(read more)
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Manipulating Distortion Out of Your Image
Precise measurements of plastic mesh fencing are needed during production runs to ensure that all dimensions fall within the specified tolerances. In this situation, the space reserved for the imaging...(read more)
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Off-The-Shelf Component Prototyping
Above photo and schematic shows imaging lens prototyped with C-Mount components. A line generating laser is mounted in the assembly for presence detection of pharmaceutical pills on an assembly line....(read more)
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Off-The-Shelf Integration
The presence of a pill can be tested by analyzing the histograms of the sample area (about the laser line). In presence of a pill, the average pixel count is 248 (standard deviation 17.83). Without...(read more)
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Optics Application Examples
Although lenses are often used in imaging applications, in many cases the goal of the simple lens is the projection of light from one point to another. To be useful, emitters, detectors, lasers, and...(read more)
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Projector Design Tips
Designing a custom projector can often be time-consuming and expensive. Here we offer a quick solution anyone can follow. Define your system, consult the chart to the right for the parts necessary,...(read more)
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Selecting Metallic Mirror Coatings
Edmund manufactures a wide range of precision parabolic, spherical and flat mirrors in our own facility. These products are offered in a variety of metallic coatings to suit all your application...(read more)
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Successful Polarization Techniques
Video and machine vision systems rely on electronic imagers that typically exhibit anywhere from eight-bit to twelve-bit signal-to-noise ratio. Although sufficient for many applications, cameras in...(read more)
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Understanding Ball Lenses
The effective focal length of a ball lens is very simple to calculate (Figure 1) since there are only two variables: the ball lens diameter, D, and the index of refraction, n. The effective focal...(read more)
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Understanding Optical Specifications
Optics can be found virtually everywhere, from fiber optic couplings to machine vision imaging devices to cutting-edge biometric iris identification systems. Many people don't realize that designing...(read more)
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Using Optical Flats
An optical flat is a precisely polished flat surface, used as a reference against which the flatness of an unknown surface may be compared. Edmund Optics offers both single surface and dual surface...(read more)
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Using Telecentric Lenses
Perspective errors, also called parallax, are part of everyday human experience. In fact, parallax is what allows the brain to interpret the 3-D world. We expect closer objects to appear relatively...(read more)
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What is Telecentricity?
Telecentricity is a special property of certain multi-element lens designs in which the chief rays for all points across the object or image are collimated. For example, telecentricity occurs when the...(read more)
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Why Use an Achromat?
An achromatic lens consists of two optical components cemented together, usually a positive low-index (crown) element and a negative high-index (flint) element. The additional design freedom provided...(read more)
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Z-Scan for the Characterization of Transparent Optical Materials
Reliable methods for determining the nonlinear optical properties of materials (i.e. nonlinear absorption and nonlinear refraction) have been developed for wide ranging applications such as optical...(read more)
- Optical Traps Enter New Era of Nanomanipulation
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An Image Quality Wire-Grid Polarizing Beam Splitter
A couple of years ago, MOXTEK introduced its ProFlux™ wiregrid polarizer for use in Liquid Crystal projection displays. These polarizers have boasted high durability as well as high performance...(read more)
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An XRD/XRF Instrument for the Microanalysis of Rocks and Minerals
A breadboard setup constructed at MOXTEK, Inc., is capable of capturing both x-ray diffraction (XRD) and x-ray fluorescence (XRF) information simultaneously using a charge-coupled device (CCD) as the...(read more)
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New, High Performance, Durable Polarizers for Projection Displays
Wire-grid polarizers are now available for broadband visible applications. This type of polarizer is very attractive for projection display applications because of its high efficiency, high contrast,...(read more)
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Society for Information Display: The Display Applications and Physics of the ProFlux Wire Grid Polarizer
Each year the Society awards the Display of the Year Award to several leading edge display devices or technologies that provide innovative solutions to an information display need. The following paper...(read more)
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LED Backlight Technology White Paper
This white paper was developed to provide an overview on backlight technologies. It is intended to help the reader better understand the different technologies along with the advantages and...(read more)
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How Does a Diopter Work?
A diopter is a unit of measurement describing the optical power of a lens or curved mirror. When shopping for magnifiers, consider this: The diopter is equal to the reciprocal of the focal length...(read more)
- Focusing Objective Theory
- Retardation Plate Theory
- Scanning Lens Theory
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High Numerical Aperture Silica Core Fibers
Many medical applications have need of 'broad' irradiation patterns, but benefit from small diameter fibers to provide minimal invasive surgery. These applications also benefit from using the low...(read more)
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MIR Fiber Sensors Remote Spectroscopy & Pyrometry in 4-16 um Region
Recent Development in technology of polychristalline silver halide fibers for Medium Infrared Region 4-16um (MIR-fibers-Fig. 1) opens a new area of applications of IR-spectroscopy in "fingerprint...(read more)
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Properties & Reliability of Improved Large Acceptance Optical Fibers
The high power diode laser systems, but must be flexible, and have not only good strength but also good fatigue behavior. Th with their laser diode bars and arrays not only require special fibers to...(read more)
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Reliability of Hard Plastic Clad Silica Fiber
New formulations of cladding materials have become available in recent times for Hard Plastic Clad Silica (HPCS) fibers, Initial data showed gains in some properties, particularly dynamic strength,...(read more)
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Reliability of Large Acceptance Optical Fibers for High Power Tranmission
Typically, output from high power, diode lasers and arrays must be transported to a final application/treatment site, whether the application is industrial, military or medical. Many demands are...(read more)
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Formulas and Guidelines for Optical Lens Selection
The information on this page is a compilation of basics intended to assist you in selecting the best optical components and systems for your specific applications....(read more)
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Precision refractive zoom lens with long focal length
Delivered to the U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range in January 2006 the Precision Metric Zoom Lens was manufactured as a result of an SBIR Phase I and II to design and manufacture a zoom lens system...(read more)
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An Improved Polarizing Beamsplitter LCOS Projection Display Based on Wire-Grid Polarizers
MOXTEK has developed a new polarizer technology for the visible spectrum based on the technology of nanometer-scale wire-grids. They have named their technology ProFlux(tm) Polarizers. These...(read more)
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ADC1000 OEM Data Sheet
The ADC1000-USB is a microcontroller-based A/D card that can communicate via the Universal Serial Bus or RS-232. This document contains the necessary command information for controlling the unit via...(read more)
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ADC1000-USB A/D Converter: Serial Port Interface Communications and Control Information
The ADC1000-USB A/D Converter is a microcontroller-based A/D card that can communicate via the Universal Serial Bus (RS-232). This document contains the necessary command information for controlling...(read more)
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ADC2000-PCI "Unrecognized by Windows" Solution
The ADC2000-PCI A/D Converter has a known problem, which is found on a small number of PC systems. The problem is with the cold boot (power cycle) of the PC. The time it takes for the PC's Plug-n-Play...(read more)
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Additional Troubleshooting Steps for the ADC2000-PCI
If you have verified that you have followed the instructions in the ADC2000-PCI A/D Converter Installation Instructions located on the Ocean Optics CD or at...(read more)
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Correcting Device Driver Issues
If you connect your Ocean Optics USB or PCI device to the computer prior to installing your Ocean Optics software application, you may encounter installation issues that must be corrected before your...(read more)
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HR2000 Spectrometer OEM Data Sheet
The Ocean Optics HR2000 Spectrometer includes the linear CCD-array optical bench, plus all the circuits necessary for spectrometer operation. The result is a compact, flexible system, with no moving...(read more)
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HR4000 and USB4000 Shutter Mode Performance in Hardware Trigger Mode
The HR4000 and USB4000 Spectrometers utilize the Toshiba TCD1304 CCD Detector. When operating a USB4000/HR4000 Spectrometer with this detector in External Hardware Trigger mode, you will find some...(read more)
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NIR512 Alternating Dark Pixel Levels
The NIR512 uses a Hamamatsu G8053-512S InGaAs detector. While there are 512 individual pixels, the pixels are readout through two 256-element shift registers that are arranged in an even and odd...(read more)
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