Ebook: Applied optics and optical engineering Vol.11

This volume of Applied Optics and Optical Engineering continues the pattern of previous volumes in the series. The contents cover a mixture of topics ranging from basics to applications of optical engineering. The contents of this volume cover aberrations, Fourier methods, beam propagation, geometrical optics, mechanical design, and integrated optics.
The first chapter, by James Wyant and Katherine Creath, discusses aberration theory from the practical point of view of the use of aberrations in describing the wavefronts measured by an interferometer. It has now become common throughout the optical industry to depend upon the use of interferometers to characterize the accuracy of components, and to assess the state of correction of an assembled lens system. Several computer based interferometric analysis products are on the market, and such instruments now appear in virtually all optical shops. The interferomelric fringe output is digitized and processed on a computer to provide a specific aberration analysis of the system being tested. Various analysis programs will present the aberration information in different forms. This chapter provides a general introduction to the interpretation of the data presented to the user by such fringe analysis methods.
The fast Fourier transform revolutionized the world of signal processing in the 1960s. In the following decades, many new applications were developed which were based upon the increasing power of digital computers. Today the use of high speed Fourier transforms for data analysis and image modeling has become ubiquitous in optical design and testing. Chapter 2, by John Hayes, provides a brief summary of the properties of this approach with special attention to those intending to use this technique for analyzing optical systems.
Applications of computers beyond data analysis or lens design have become more important with the advent of high speed, locally available processors. George Lawrence, in Chapter 3, describes the methods used in modeling diffractive beam propagation, and shows how modern computational techniques make it possible to accurately model the passage of light through virtually any combination of optical components. This chapter includes the methods required to include active optical components, such as laser cavities, in the overall optical system evaluation.
The use of geometrical optical presentations for assessing the state of correction of optical systems is a traditional tool of the optical designer. In Chapter 4, S. Zhang and R. R. Shannon illustrate the patterns observed within spot diagrams and the related geometrical MTFs that occur when different choices for the distribution of rays in the pupil are used. These presentations of the appearance of the image are comparable to similar evaluations using physical optics presented in Chapter 4 of Volume X of this series.
The optical design of instruments is a starting point for completing the total design of a working optical system. In Chapter 5, Daniel Vukobratovich discusses the problems involved in the mounting and use of optical components. The basic principles and techniques required to ensure that the mechanical portions of the instrument do not diminish the optical quality of elements are outlined, and serve to direct the user to an overall procedure in design. From this article, the optical designer can gain an appreciation of methods that would permit successful integration of optical and mechanical components.
The final chapter, by Laura Weller-Brophy, moves away from traditional optical problems to introduce a topic of growing interest in applied optics, that of integrated gratings and waveguides. Such components are becoming important in communication and data processing systems as a method of coupling light between traditional optical systems and integrated optical components. This chapter permits the engineer experienced in the traditional optical component applications to obtain a view of the technology of a new component appearing in many new electro-optical systems.
In summary, this volume contains a wide variety of practical and basic articles on optical engineering. The selection of topics and the depth of the articles permits the optical engineer to obtain a broader base of knowledge with which to pursue the design and development of optical instruments.