[VIDEO] Metrology Platform for Easy and Precise Alignment in Freeform Optical Testing

Freeform optics are all around us, from the latest in AR/VR technology to the incredible images produced by the James Webb Space Telescope and many other photonics technologies that enhance our lives every day. Fabricating aspheric and freeform optics is not trivial, and the limiting factor is often metrology. To produce a high-quality precision optic, it must be measured to even greater precision than it will be produced.

Computer-generated holograms (CGHs) have become the gold standard for measuring complex optical surface shapes like aspheres, conic sections, and even freeforms. They leverage the benefits of interferometry – snapshot measurements that are precise and high resolution – with the flexibility of testing nearly any optical surface shape. CGHs are extremely powerful in this regard but must be well aligned to the optic under test. For freeforms and off-axis aspheres, the test optic must be aligned in all 6 degrees of freedom!

The Metrology Platform concept from AOM provides the necessary feedback for alignment of test optics, enabling both ease of use in setup, as well as precision in positioning the test optic. We engineer and fabricate each Metrology Platform to enable our customers to succeed in their engineering and fabrication projects. The concept can be applied to nearly any size or shape test optic. Contact us now to review your optical metrology challenges.