Complex method for angular-spectral analysis of volume phase diffraction gratings recorded in photopolymers

Photopolymer recording materials are nowadays widely used for recording of diffraction gratings and other diffraction elements. For obtaining the best performance of these diffraction gratings for desired applications, it is important to assess these gratings from many different perspectives. In this contribution, we present an experimental and characterization approach to an analysis of diffraction gratings recorded into photopolymer materials. This approach is able to provide a complex and very illustrative description of these gratings response and, with accordance to the theory, information about some important grating parameters, such as a spatial period, slant angle, etc., as well. This approach is based on the measurement of a grating response for a wide range of angles and wavelengths and then on the construction and subsequent analysis of maps in the angular-spectral plane. It is shown that the measurements are in a good agreement with the theoretical predictions based on either approximate (Kogelnik’s coupled wave theory) or rigorous (RCWA) techniques and that this approach provides complex and detailed characterization of the grating response which can be used for additional optimization or decision of applicability of measured sample gratings

Simulation of mid-spatials from the grinding process

This paper focuses on the simulation of the creation of mid-spatial frequencies (mid-spatials) during the grinding process of optical components. The goal is to simulate this generation process and determine the correlating grinding parameters for mid-spatials. On this base, grinding parameters which lead to less mid-spatials could be determined

Polishing material removal correlation on PMMA – FEM simulation

The complexity of polishing is very high and experience in this field is required to achieve reproducible deterministic results concerning shape accuracy. The goal of this work is to predict the material removal of the polishing process on PMMA (Polymethylmethacrylate) using an industrial robot polisher. In order to predict the material removal, a FEM Model was created representing the polishing process. This model will help to predict the material removal when polishing parameters are changed. Experiments were carried out and compared to the results obtained from the different parameters tested in the simulation

An analytical model for top-hat long transient mode-mismatched thermal lens spectroscopy

It has been shown that a top-hat excitation beam gives rise to a more sensitive signal for the thermal lens spectroscopy (TLS). Recently, a numerical model has been presented for a top- hat excitation beam in a dual-beam mod-mismatched TLS [Opt. Lett. 33(13), 1464-1466 (2008)]. In this work, we present a full analytical version of this model. Our model was based on a new solution of time-dependent heat equation for a finite radius cylindrical sample exposed to a top-hat excitation laser beam. The Fresnel diffraction integration method was then used to calculate on-axis probe-beam intensity variations due to thermal lensing by taking the aberrant nature of the thermal lens into account. The model was confirmed with experimental data of LSCAS-2 with an excellent agreement

Controlling the optical creation of gold nanoparticles in a PVA matrix by direct laser writing

We report about the study on the physical features of gold nano-particles (GNPs) created by 2-photons photo-reduction Direct Laser Writing in a Poly-Vinyl Alcohol (PVA) matrix doped with HAuCl4. We drop cast a film of the PVA+ HAuCl4 onto a glass substrate, in which we create 1D gratings made by stripes of GNPs with a single laser sweep. We show that the stripe width increases with the laser power and the exposure time. We also analyse the influence of the exposure time over the created nano-particles size distribution and density and we show that by suitably adjusting the exposure time it is possible to maximize the frequency of a given diameter. By comparing the experimental results with a polymerization “voxel” model, we are able to evaluate the effective cross section for 2- photons absorption of our material

Statistical classification of soft solder alloys by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy: review of methods

This paper reviews machine-learning methods that are nowadays the most frequently used for the supervised classification of spectral signals in laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). We analyze and compare various statistical classification methods, such as linear discriminant analysis (LDA), quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA), partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA), support vector machine (SVM), naive Bayes method, probabilistic neural networks (PNN), and K-nearest neighbor (KNN) method. The theoretical considerations are supported with experiments conducted for real soft-solder-alloy spectra obtained using LIBS. We consider two decision problems: binary and multiclass classification. The former is used to distinguish overheated soft solders from their normal versions. The latter aims to assign a testing sample to a given group of materials. The measurements are obtained for several laser-energy values, projection masks, and numbers of laser shots. Using cross-validation, we evaluate the above classification methods in terms of their usefulness in solving both classification problems

Robotic automation in computer controlled polishing

We first present a Case Study – the manufacture of 1.4 m prototype mirror-segments for the European Extremely Large Telescope, undertaken by the National Facility for Ultra Precision Surfaces, at the OpTIC facility operated by Glyndwr University. Scale-up to serial-manufacture demands delivery of a 1.4 m off-axis aspheric hexagonal segment with surface precision < 10 nm RMS every four days, compared with a typical year or more for an one-off part. This requires a radically-new approach to large optics fabrication, which will inevitably propagate into wider industrial optics. We report on how these ambitious requirements have stimulated an investigation into the synergy between robots and computer numerically controlled (‘CNC’) polishing machines for optical fabrication. The objective was not to assess which is superior. Rather, it was to understand for the first time their complementary properties, leading us to operate them together as a unit, integrated in hardware and software. Three key areas are reported. First is the novel use of robots to automate currently-manual operations on CNC polishing machines, to improve work-throughput, mitigate risk of damage to parts, and reduce dependence on highly-skilled staff. Second is the use of robots to pre-process surfaces prior to CNC polishing, to reduce total process time. The third draws the threads together, describing our vision of the automated manufacturing cell, where the operator interacts at cell rather than machine level. This promises to deliver a step-change in end-to-end manufacturing times and costs, compared with either platform used on its own or, indeed, the state-of-the-art used elsewhere

Liquid crystal cells based on photovoltaic substrates

Liquid crystal cells with LiNbO3:Fe crystals as substrates, are described. The photovoltaic field generated by the substrates is able to reorient the liquid crystal director thus giving rise to a phase shift on the light propagating through the cell, as in liquid crystal light valves. The process does not require the application of an external electric field, thus being potentially useful for applications requiring a high degree of compactness. An efficient optical switch with a high transmission contrast, based on the described optically-induced electric field, is also proposed

Laguerre-Gaussian Mode Division Multiplexing in Multimode Fiber using SLMs in VCSEL Arrays

Mode division multiplexing (MDM) is a promising technology for increasing the aggregate bandwidth of multimode fiber in conjunction with wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) as a means to alleviate the impending capacity crunch in optical fiber networks due to increasing consumer bandwidth demands. This paper models a 25-channel Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) MDM-WDM system in a multimode fiber using an integrated SLM-controlled VCSEL array. A data rate of 25Gbps is achieved at a central wavelength of 1550.12 nm. Although previous work have addressed the effect of excitation of different individual modes on the MDM performance, the implication of the separation of the mode numbers have not been investigated. Apart from the modelling of the SLM-controlled VCSEL array, another significant contribution of this paper is the analyses on the effect of the separation of radial mode numbers and separation of azimuthal mode numbers in an integrated SLM-based VCSEL MDM system. The effects ofdifferent azimuthal mode spacing and radial mode spacing of LG modes were analysed on the channel impulse response, eye diagrams and bit-error rates

Group refractive index calculation by difference approximation for length measurement

In this study, the possibility of employing a difference approximation to facilitate calculation of the group refractive index of air (GRA) was investigated. The forward, backward, and central difference methods were used to numerically approximate the first-order derivatives of the phase refractive index based on the Edlén empirical equations. To confirm the validity of the calculations, the calculated results were compared with the theoretical analysis results and the values in a related paper. It was found that the GRA computation could be easily approximated by the two-point central difference method with a step size of 10 nm