X-ray computed tomography (CT) is a non-destructive approach to verify internal features of various industrial components built by additive manufacturing (AM) or other processing methods. However, the measurement results was highly impacted by numerous factors. In this study, DoE (Design of Experiments) was conducted to statistically study impacts of error source of X-ray CT metrology; optimal settings were recommended for different internal geometrical features. Measurement comparison between X-ray CT and CMM (Coordinate Measuring Machine) is also provided in this paper to analyze the principle difference of these two measurement technology.
In a wavefront sensing system, the raw data for surface reconstruction, either the slope matrix or curvature matrix, is obtained through centroiding on the focal spot images. Centroiding is to calculate the first moment within a certain area of interest, which encloses the focal spot. As the distribution of focal spots is correlated to the surface sampling condition, while a uniform rectangular grid is good enough to register all the focal spots of a uniformly sampled near flat surface, the focal spots of aspherical or freeform surfaces have varying shapes and sizes depending on the surface geometry. In this case, the normal registration method is not applicable. This paper proposed a dynamic focal spots registration algorithm to automatically analyze the image, identify and register every focal spot for centroiding at one go. Through experiment on a freeform surface with polynomial coefficients up to 10th order, the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is proved.
Toroidal surfaces have wide applications in optics and manufacturing industry. Due to the strong aspherical surface profile of a toroidal surface, there are few optical measurement techniques proposed or reported for its measurement. This paper proposed digital Shack Hartmann wavefront sensor (SHWS) with extendable dynamic range. Instead of the traditional spherical lenslet array, which cannot sample the wavefront in two directions simultaneously, an elliptical lenslet array realized by a spatial light modulator (SLM), which provides different optical powers in two directions, is used in the system. With the incorporation of the extended version of the traditional SHWS, the reference-free wavefront sensor (RFWS), curvature matrix is measured, which can be further reconstructed into the surface profile. Both numerical simulation and experimental study has been conducted and the feasibility of measuring toroidal surfaces in the RFWS system with an elliptical lenslet array is proven.
The misalignment of a particular optic in lens assembly will induce aberrations and deteriorate the performance. For the
purpose of failure analysis, there are requirements from optic manufactures for the development of measurement tool to
address the misaligned element. This paper presents a method for the quantitative measurement and analysis of
misalignment in lens assembly, which may figure out the misaligned element and its misalignment factors. Since there
are several optical elements in lens assembly, and there are different misalignments, such as decenter, tilt etc, a multiparameter
tool need to be employed in the analysis. Wavefront can be expressed with Zernike polynomials, which are
selected for the analysis. We choose a positive lens assembly with four elements for the study. A point light source is
placed in the front focus point of lens assembly; the collimated emergent wavefront is analyzed with Zernike
polynomials. We use Zeemax to simulate the propagation of wavefront, calculate Zernike coefficients correspondent to
various misalignment. The results show there is a group of Zernike polynomials correspond to each misalignment. Each
polynomial increase/decrease progressively against the magnitude of misalignment. It is difficult to tell the misalignment
only by the analysis of Zernike coefficients. To further address the misaligned elements, we present a concept - the
contrast value of Zernike coefficients, which is a series of constant even though the magnitude of misalignment changes.
The method and procedure is presented to measure the contrast value with the employment of dual directional wavefront
sensing.
A Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor (SHWS) uses a lenslet array to sample incoming wavefront on an image sensor,
which is usually a Charge Coupled Device (CCD). By measuring the shift of centroids on CCD compared to reference
spots, wavefront profile is reconstructed and therefore test surface shape is revealed. There are various factors that affect
the performance of SHWS. In order to study how and to which extend does each factor affect reconstruction result, we
established a simulation platform for SHWS in MATLAB. Through this platform, detailed properties and affecting
factors were analyzed. Based on the system-oriented platform, we obtained some interesting findings, which are very
important in the design of S-H wavefront sensors. In this paper, the performance-affecting significance of the key
properties of the light beam, the diverging angle, the intensity distribution, and the intensity of the light beam, is
simulated, analyzed and concluded. The simulation results are useful guide for the selection, design and preparation of
the sensing light beam.
A measurement and imaging system has been developed for in-line continuous measurement of live, unmodified, human
embryonic stem cells (hESC). The measurement will not affect cell growth, structure, sterility and suitability for clinical
use. The stem cell imaging system (SCIS) can be used to support the optimization of automated stem cell growth for invitro
study and for high-volume bio-manufacture. This paper present the experimental and analysis for the optimization
of system parameters. A non-linear lighting is developed to obtain a clear images. The individual cluster can be traced
from day one to day two. The whole system is calibrated with measurement microscope and haemacytometer. The
measurement accuracy is better than 90%.
In this study, a simple experimental setup was established and experiments were carried out to investigate light scattering
for scratch detection. Many factors would affect the scratch line detection based on light scattering, such as the size and
orientation of the scratches, state of the polarizer, light incident angle, detecting angle of light scattering, and light spot
size. It is found that the scattered light intensity depends on the orientation of the scratch lines. The intensity power of
scattered light would increase with increasing lines per millimeter on the test plate surface. The detection at the zerodegree
detecting angle is more sensitive than that at other detecting angles. It is also found that the scratch detection
based on light scattering may be performed using S polarization.
In this study, the interaction performance of three light sources, namely white light, laser diode and He-Ne laser, with
two wave-front sensing systems was investigated experimentally using different sensing distances and sampling
apertures (two hole-apertures for a Hartmann system and a
spatial-light-modulator lenslet-array for a digital
Shack-Hartmann system). It was found that the white light source was the best for the Hartmann system, while the He-Ne laser
was the most suitable light source for the digital Shack-Hartmann system. Geometrical accuracy of a hole-array aperture
and the sensing distance are important to generate stable wave fronts.
When wavefront is reflected by a surface, the information of the surface profile is carried by the reflected wavefront.
Measure the wavefront can extract the profile information. There are different kinds of pre-defined surface profile with
various dimensions. While the size of particular wavefront sensor is fixed, the measurement range is limited. The design
of optical system to bridge the work piece and wavefront sensor is critical. This paper presents a platform for the
guidance of optical system design. The parameters of commercial available optical components are input to the platforms
and the propagation of reflected wavefront is simulated. The relationship of part profile and the measurement wavefront
is provided. The discussion is focused on the 2f+2f system for surface flatness measurement. The measurement of
aspherical surface is also presented. Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor (SHWS) is selected due to its simple structure,
insensitivity to vibration etc, which is suitable for in-line application. Optical system is designed with the guidance of
simulation platform. The experimental results shows the 2f+2f system is compatible to misalignments, can be used to
monitor the deformations of parts. The measurement of aspherical surface is also presented with the comparison of
simulation results.
Shack-Hartmann Wavefront Sensor (SHWS) recently has been extensively researched for optical surface metrology due
to its extendable dynamic range compared with the interferometry technique. In our institute, we have developed a
digital SHWS by adopting a programmable Spatial Light Modulator (SLM) to function as a microlens array and replace
the physical one in the traditional configuration of this sensing system. In this paper, we proposed to use the developed
system for the relative measurement of toroidal surfaces, which are widely used in many optical systems due to their
unique optical features of different curvatures in X and Y directions. An innovative idea to design the diffractive
microlens array implemented by SLM was presented to tackle the measurement challenge. This unconventional design
approach has a great advantage to provide different optical powers in X and Y directions so that focusing spots can be
formed and captured on the detector plane for accurate centroid finding and precise wavefront evaluation for 3D shape
reconstruction of the toroidal surface. A digital Shack-Hartmann Wavefront Sensing system with this unique microlens
array was built to verify the design concept, and the experimental results were presented and analyzed.
Since its emergence in the early 1970s, Shack-Hartmann Wavefront Sensing technology has been investigated and
explored world-widely by the researchers and engineers. However, there are few papers or reports to study the system
performance and key factors to affect the performance of a Shack-Hartmann Wavefront Sensor (SHWS), in this paper,
through experimental study of the system stability of a SHWS, it is found that the image sensor and detector, normally a
CCD, should be placed exactly at the focal plane of the lenslet array, otherwise it will bring in significant wavefront
measurement error. In order to improve the system performance, a special lenslet array with long focal range is designed,
and it is functioned by a spatial light modulator for sampling wavefront in a SHWS. Diffractive lenses with long focal
length range can provide pseudo-nondiffracting beams, and a long range of focusing plane. The performances and effects
of the modified SHWS with such a special lenslet array generated by a programmable SLM, are investigated, and the
experimental results show that the system stability and measurement repeatability are not sensitive to the sensing
distance, and can keep at a good level in a long range.
Transparent toughened glass panels are widely installed in high-rise buildings. There is a growing need for inspection to detect the presence of detrimental inclusions of Nickel Sulfide. These inclusions can cause toughened glass to shatter, possibly causing property damage or injury. Optical equipment has been developed which can detect the inclusions in-situ. Light is coupled into a glass panel and propagates along the glass by total internal reflection. An inclusion in the glass will cause the light to scatter. Once an inclusion is found, it will be observed at higher magnification and the detailed image will be processed. By the analysis of its key features, the inclusion type can be identified. The coupling medium is made of a transparent, soft and deformable material. The equipment can be attached to a glass panel by vacuum suction. The optical system can scan the whole glass panel with a constant force spring as anti-weight structure. The whole system is fast, convenient and highly effective. A patent has been filed for this apparatus.
Wavelength tuning of fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) by virtue of a lateral or transverse load is attractive for a variety of applications in the field of optical sensing. The wavelength response characteristic of the FBG upon application of a transverse load is highly dependent on the pressurizing media and the contact conditions. In this paper, we evaluate the effect of contact friction and contact angle of the pressurizing media on the lateral pressure tuning of FBGs. Our results showed that pressurizing media with a lower value of stiffness is favorable for greater contact areas and for distributing the lateral load. Thus, the sensing load becomes more hydrostatic in nature, which enhances the lateral pressure sensitivity and tuning range while reducing birefringence. Also, a higher contact friction is favorable for effective transfer of the load through the contact area and improved sensitivities accordingly. The present study is thus useful in better utilization of lateral pressure tuning of FBGs for sensing applications.
Grip strength is an easy measure of skeletal muscle function as well as a powerful predictor of disability, morbidity and mortality. In order to measure the grip strength, a novel fiber optic approach is proposed and demonstrated. Strain dependent wavelength response of fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) has been utilized to obtain the strength of individual fingers. Five FBGs are written at different center wavelengths on a single photosensitive fiber. Each FBG is used to get the response from each individual finger. The fiber containing the gratings is attached to a suitable grip holder, which can effectively transfer the grip force to the FBGs. An additional reference FBG is also provided to make the device temperature insensitive. Experimental results show that the wavelength shifts of the order of 0.2-0.5 nm can be achieved for individual fingers. The device is calibrated in terms of load to convert the wavelength shift to the strength of the grip. The time dependent wavelength fluctuations was also studied and presented in this paper.
Lateral-pressure tuning of a coaxially embedded fiber Bragg grating in a cylindrical polymeric package is demonstrated. The polymeric coating, having very low stiffness and high Poisson's ratio, enables effective transfer of the applied radial load to the axial direction. Such a transfer enhances the tuning range and reduces birefringence. A tuning range more than 1 nm, with negligible bandpass broadening and peak splitting, could be demonstrated. A lateral pressure sensitivity of 0.3 nm/(N/mm), which is almost 7 times as high as that of bare FBG, could be obtained.
Polymeric coatings are often used to develop various thermally tunable FBG based devices. Coatings on FBGs can be intended for protection, improvement of thermal sensitivities, special spectral shaping etc., and the quality of the coating on the FBG deserves special attention. For example, the adhesion of the polymeric coatings to the silica based optical fiber plays an important role in the wavelength response characteristics of fiber Bragg gratings during thermal tuning. In this paper, we theoretically investigate the effect of adhesion and the non-uniformity of the coating thickness on the thermal tuning process of FBGs. Experiments were done to qualitatively analyze the influence of adhesion. However practically it is very difficult to quantify the percentage adhesion and quality of coatings for experimental verification. Therefore a methodology based on finite element analysis has been utilized for theoretical investigation of the effect of adhesion of polymeric coating on the performance of FBG based thermally tuned devices. Three-dimensional finite element simulations were carried out. Spring elements are used to inter connect the nodes of the meshed models of optical fiber and coating. The effect of adhesion is studied as a function of spring stiffness. The effect of non-uniformity in the coating thickness in the circumferential direction was also studied.
Bragg grating devices are widely used in the field of optical sensing and communication. Thermally tunable devices utilize the effect of temperature on the wavelength response characteristics of the fiber Bragg grating. But the low sensitivity of a Bragg grating device to temperature limits its usage to many applications. The wavelength sensitivity of a bare FBG is only 1.3 nm for a temperature change of 100°C. In order to enhance the temperature sensitivity of a fiber Bragg grating, we propose modification of the cladding of the FBG through etching and put another coating layer outside the cladding. The cladding is etched to a certain depth around the grating and the etched portion is coated with a suitable polymer. Theoretical analysis has been done to find the relationship between the wavelength shifts and the etching depths and coating thickness of the polymer. A finite element model of the cladding etched FBG coated with polymer has also been developed and the wavelength shift due to thermal expansion is analyzed under various etching depths and coating thickness. The high thermal expansion coefficient of the polymer enables to enhance the thermal sensitivity by improving the wavelength shift due to thermal expansion. Also the polymer coating on the etched fiber reduces the susceptibility of fracture and improves the reliability. It is found that that temperature sensitivity increases with increase in etching depth. But there is maximum limit to which the cladding can be etched without affecting the performance. Also it is found that increasing the coating thickness of the polymer increases the wavelength shift due to temperature change.
Fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) are widely used in optical communication and sensing applications. The accuracy and stability of the center wavelength of the FBG is affected by the fluctuations of the ambient conditions, especially the temperature. The center wavelength shift can be reduced either by using a temperature compensating package or by keeping the FBG in an athermal environment. A novel coating design is proposed for achieving passive athermalisation of FBGs. The FBG is coated at different locations with materials having different coefficient of thermal expansion and stiffness. The differential thermal expansion gives rise to an effective strain at the FBG which can compensate the wavelength shift due to temperature change. Theoretical analysis of the proposed model has been carried out and the effect of coating length and thickness is analyzed. It is proved theoretically that almost zero wavelength shifts can be achieved by optimizing the design of the coating.
Eyepieces are a part of visual optical systems. Because of their wide field of view and long eye-relief, it is difficult to further improve the existing eyepieces using all-refractive surfaces. Since diffractive elements demonstrate unique characteristics: negative dispersion and non-field curvature, the eyepiece design can be improved by using refractive-diffractive hybrid surfaces. In this paper, several design examples using refractive-diffractive hybrid surfaces to design moderate field of view (FOV) eyepieces were studied. Firstly, a design example using a diffractive surface to replace the negative piece in the cement doublet of a conventional Kellner type eyepiece is presented. Then a design example is given by employing two diffractive elements to replace the negative elements used in the conventional symmetrical eyepiece. For the above examples the eyepiece aberration correction techniques were also analyzed.
The optical performances of fabricated diffractive micro-optical lens are determined by some fabrication process parameters. These key fabrication parameters are found to be the laser intensity, the speed of the movable stages, the distance from the top surface of the photoresist to the UV objective lens, the starting laser intensity, the laser intensity variation step and the overlap of the adjacent patterns. In order to get the continuous-relief profile, a method was used to fabricate diffractive optical lens with any surface relief profile. Each zone of the diffractive micro-optical lens is divided and linewidth is achieved by changing the fabrication parameters. A computer control program has been developed to optimize the key fabrication parameters for fabricating the high quality continuous-relief diffractive micro- optical lens matched with design parameters. The fabricated lens has a focal length of 1.1 cm, which is very close to the design value of 1.0 cm.
Silica/Titania optical waveguides have been prepared by the sol-gel technique using Glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane and tetrapropylorthotitanate as the starting materials. Scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, differential thermal analysis, and UV- visible spectroscopy have been used to characterize the morphology, the optical and structural properties of the waveguide films. The waveguides are also characterized by measuring their refractive index, thickness, and propagation loss as a function of titanium content and thermal treatment. The obtained results show that after an annealing at 500°C or above, an inorganic silica/titania crack-free film could be obtained. The single layer spin- coated film has high transparency in the visible range and is more than 0.5 micron thick. The propagation loss of the waveguide films was also estimated by using the scattered- light measurement method and was found to be around 1.0 dB/cm at the wavelength of 632.8 nm.
In both design and fabrication, diffractive optical elements (DOEs) are more flexible and powerful than traditional refractive/reflective optical elements, hence an optical system with one or more diffractive elements may provide better optical performance at lower cost with small, light and compact structure. However due to its inherent large spectral dispersion, a DOE is generally designed and fabricated for one specific wavelength or a narrow spectral bandwidth. In the case of a wide band light source, chromatic aberration and loss of diffraction efficiency will occur. In this paper, the chromatic dispersion of DOE is discussed, and four achromatic strategies, namely hybrid diffractive/refractive strategy, harmonic diffraction strategy, multi-material strategy, and bi-blazed strategy are introduced and analyzed respectively. A comparison has also been made among them to guide the application.
In planar diffractive imaging system, extra-axial imaging elements are frequently used. Since the elements have large off-axial aberrations such as coma, astigmatism, field curvature and distortion, it seems a little difficult to design a practical aberration-free element. In this paper, we reviewed the axial imaging diffractive element design procedure. Referring to designing axial elements, we present a semianalytical approach that enables one to determine the exact surface profile of an extra-axial element based on geometrical optics according to design and aberration-free requirements. The design procedure of the element can be divided into two steps: firstly, to obtain the zone boundaries and then to solve the exact surface profile. Finally, a schematic is given to test and evaluate small size diffractive elements.
Compared to the holographic elements, the binary optical element (BOE) is more flexible and powerful in its design, functionality and fabrication. Better optical performance, with the advantages of compactness, lightweight, and low cost, is possible if the BOE based optical system is made monolithic. In this paper a monolithic planar-binary integrated optical visor with two couplers is proposed, designed and analyzed. One of the couplers directs the light into the glass slide substrate so that the light can travel within a planar passage via total internal reflection; the other couples the light out of the optical plate and into the wearer's eyes. Meanwhile, a binary lens array is adopted on the surface of the input end, so the visor can serve its imaging function with minimal geometrical aberrations. A bi- blazed diffractive structure of BOL is proposed to correct the chromatic aberrations and achieve achromatic imaging over the visible range.
Based on the analysis of the effect of fabrication errors on diffraction efficiency of a diffractive optical element and image quality of a binary optical lens (BOL), a novel quasi- continuous mask-coding (QCMC) method is presented in this paper. This coding method puts forward a series of new mask patterns, making it possible to fabricate quasi-continuous micro profile by using the same number of masks as employed in the traditional `binary' fabrication technology. The QCMC technique breaks through the current convention for coding m masks to get the micro profile with 2m steps in one zone. This paper presents the theory of the QCMC method and provides examples of practical mask patterns. by using QCMC, BOLs with enhanced diffraction efficiency can be fabricated by traditional multilayer micro fabrication method or by laser writing technology without any additional equipment or processing procedure. Employing this method will enhance the diffraction efficiency, the optical performance, and in particular the image quality of a hybrid optical imaging system.
The study of planar imaging system is an interesting topic because its compact structure and lightweight are consistent with the trend of production miniaturization. This paper presents our study of designing and fabricating planar imaging elements. Theoretical analysis of grating and off- axis imaging diffractive elements was conducted. A low- aberration symmetrical imaging optical system was designed and evaluated with CODE V. Using a variable intensity laser- writing system, diffractive surface relief patterns were written on photoresist and were later transferred to a fused quartz plate.
A novel planar-binary optical see-through visor, in which three binary optical elements, namely two couplers and one compensator, are designed to be fabricated on a planar glass slide substrate, is presented in this paper. One binary focusing coupler serves to image and couple the light into the optical plate so that the light can travel within the planar passage via total internal reflection. The other coupler directs the light out of the plate, and the compensator makes it possible for the user to see directly through the visor at the same time. Harmonic diffractive technology is employed to reduce the chromatic displacement in the visible range. The schematic of the structure and simulation results are given in this paper. Our results indicate that it is promising to utilize the planar-binary optics to cover the visible band.
Compared with other kinds of diffractive optical elements (DOEs), the harmonic diffractive optical element (HDOE) is analyzed, and some important results including its dispersion are deduced and presented in this paper. Its inherent advantages and characteristics are analyzed and concluded, and then several applications including imaging in the wide wavelength band, multicolor optical Fourier transform system, and multicolor scanning system are suggested. The harmonic diffractive optical elements or systems have small volume and strong potentials in the applications of achromatic multi- wavelength multi-order diffraction, so it is promised that HDOE will be useful in the field of integrated photo- electronics.
In the process of fabrication and assembly of hybrid diffractive-refractive optical systems, the quality and performance of the hybrid devices significantly depend on the alignment level of elements. But for the inherent magnificent difference existed between traditional and diffractive elements, the conventional alignment method does not fit to be used in the hybrid optical system, so alignment error, a widely existed and difficult to be solved problem, has been the main bottleneck which seriously blocks the development of the application of the hybrid optical systems, and how to simply achieve the precise alignment of the diffractive and refractive elements of a hybrid device is an urgent problem needed to be solved by the researchers in this field. This paper presents that using Fizeau interferometer to simply align a plano-convex refractive element with a diffractive element with high precision. The theory of the method is analyzed and its precision is also estimated, and it is clearly shown that a system aligned by this method can meet the demand of optical systems, and the experimental results are satisfactory. All these show that the simple method presented in the paper is feasible and effective, and can constructively guide and enlighten people to solve other problems related to alignment error encountered in most necessary steps during the process of realizing a practical hybrid optical system.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.