A recipe is given for the polishing of precise surfaces on crystals of bismuth silicate (BSO) and bismuth germanate (BGO). Using this recipe, crystals having surface figure better than 1/10 wave, roug...

Building optical systems that actually meet specifications requires more than a knowledge of optics and the use of contemporary design codes. Excellence also comes with a kind of “street” knowledge, l...

Zernike annular polynomials that represent orthogonal and balanced aberrations suitable for systems with annular pupils are described. Their numbering scheme is the same as for Zernike circle polynomi...

A pair of complementary spectral filters can be used to block detector background illumination and provide bright illumination for an operator in a room....

A three-channel homodyne interferometer based on a structured delay plate is described. Detection and data acquisition are performed with standard optoelectronics in a PC environment. The device, whic...

Several benefits are realized when one chooses a z-propagating waveguide in a y-cut substrate of lithium niobate for use in an integrated optics Pockels cell: (1) waveguide can be biased by controllin...

A simple equation is presented that describes the rotation of art image by a mirror or prism, and that can be used to calculate the amount of image rotation in a complex optical system. The equation a...

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A new technique employing optical polarization is used to examine polarized radiation scattered by the sea in a region west of the Island of Hawaii. The technique is a very sensitive indicator of land...

One of the most difficult aspects of working with laser diodes in the laboratory is their sensitivity to optical feedback. This problem is particularly troublesome when trying to couple the laser ligh...

A system of three spherical mirrors can be used as a replacement for an off-axis parabolic mirror collimator. The system is more compact and has ~2.5× larger diffraction-limited field of view....

Image quality of a refracting lens system often will be limited by residual secondary color. Information in this paper permits rapid determination of blur spot size, and resulting image quality degrad...

An interferometer with 180° rotational shear does not show rotationally symmetrical aberrations. The instrument, however, is suitable for aligning zooming laser optical systems, monitoring wavefront i...

A simple wedge measurement technique of optical refractive index is described. The procedure is more accurate and convenient than the usual minimum deviation method and is not limited to visible light...