Search

Optical systems with UV lasers are widely used in various areas of manufacturing, for processing materials. To provide high operation accuracy, the equipment with high power UV laser sources requires complicated optical and mechanical unit with control electronic blocks. In order to develop successful and stable equipment and to increase accuracy, the development of each part (optical, mechanical, and electronic) is needed to solve many complex engineering problems. In this article the special features of the development of an optical unit with a high powered UV laser source are considered along with some problems and solutions.

Hovland, Harald. Statistics-based filtering for low signal-to-noise ratios, applied to rocket plume imaging. Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering 2017 ;Volum 10200. s.

Skauli, Torbjorn. Feasibility of a standard for full specification of spectral imager performance. Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering 2017 ;Volum 10213. s. 102130H-1-102130H-12

The oil and gas industry is continually striving to produce more hydrocarbons and reduce waste. Many sensing techniques using optical fiber have been developed over the last three decades for all stages of well development. This paper reviews these optical sensing technologies, with emphasis on new applications and business drivers. Expected performance parameters of these new technologies are discussed, including their accuracy, resolution, stability, and operational lifetime. Environmental conditions, such as high temperatures, shock, vibration, crush, and chemical exposure, are also discussed. These optical technologies are expected to provide safe, reliable, cost-effective, and unprecedented monitoring solutions.

In this work we review the concept of optical fiber meta-tips, recently introduced by the authors. Optical fiber meta-tips come from the integration of plasmonic optical metasurfaces and the fiber optics technology. In particular, this integration is a major breakthrough in the recently emerged "Lab-On-Fiber" technology, where nanostructured platforms with special capabilities of light manipulation are integrated onto the tip of an optical fiber. Optical fiber meta-tips can, on one side, boost the real world applicability of optical metasurfaces, and, on the other side, bring about more advanced capabilities of on-fiber control and manipulation of light wavefront and polarization. With a view towards possible practical applications to label-free chemical and biological sensing, we inspect the potentialities of optical fiber meta-tips to work as sensors of local refractive index variations, and aim at studying the effect that the phase gradient impressed by the metasurface has on the surface sensitivity of proposed devices.

Distributed fiber-optic sensing (DFOS) has drawn great attention in both academic research and industrial applications due to its unique advantages. Recent progress at University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC) in DFOS, mainly on ultra-long-distance Brillouin optical time-domain analysis (BOTDA) and phase-sensitive optical timedomain reflectometry (Φ-OTDR), is discussed in this paper, including research progress and real-life applications.

Individual additive manufacturing of optical systems based on 3D Printing offers varied possibilities in design and usage. In addition to the additive manufacturing procedure, the usage of tunable lenses allows further advantages for intelligent optical systems. Our goal is to bring the advantages of additive manufacturing together with the huge potential of tunable lenses. We produced tunable lenses as a bundle without any further processing steps, like polishing. The lenses were designed and directly printed with a 3D Printer as a package. The design contains the membrane as an optical part as well as the mechanical parts of the lens, like the attachments for the sleeves which contain the oil. The dynamic optical lenses were filled with an oil. The focal length of the lenses changes due to a change of the radius of curvature. This change is caused by changing the pressure in the inside of the lens. In addition to that, we designed lenses with special structures to obtain different areas with an individual optical power. We want to discuss the huge potential of this technology for several applications. Further, an appropriate controlling system is needed. We´ll show the possibilities to control and regulate the optical power of the lenses. The lenses could be used for illumination tasks, and in the future, for individual measurement tasks. The main advantage is the individuality and the possibility to create an individual design which completely fulfills the requirements for any specific application.

Since electrowetting has been proposed, researchers began to apply eletrowetting into different fields, such as lab-on-chip systems, display technologies, printings and optics etc. This paper mainly introduced structure, theory and application of optical devices based on electrowetting. The optical devices include liquid optical prism, liquid optical lens and display. The paper introduced their principle, specific application and many advantages in optical applications. When they are applied to optical system, production and experiment, they can reduce mechanical moving parts, simplify the structure, operate easily, decrease manufacturing cost and energy consumption, improve working efficiency, and so on. We learn and research them in detail that will contribute to research and develop optical eletrowetting in the future.

New ways of employing optics at the micro and nanometer scale are of interest. This study analyses the most common two micro-mirror shapes (i.e., spherical and parabolic) that can be used for on-chip communication - in conjunction with fiber optics/waveguides. The classical conic sections that can be used for micro-mirrors are described and a technological approach to design and manufacture such devices is presented. Finally an optimization of the parabolic micro-mirror is achieved. Other micro-mirror shapes (e.g., elliptical and hyperbolic) can be approached and compared using the same procedure. The large area of applications of such micro-mirrors includes intra- or inter-chips communications, as well as free-space optics used for various optical systems: micro-optics, optical amplifiers, lasers, and wavelength converters.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze different power devices - emitters of optical flow, from the point of view of optical coupling, emitted optical powers, optical fiber losses and receiver. The research and characterization of the transmission through a power optical system is done using a computer system specialized for the automotive industry. This system/platform can deliver current pulses that are controlled by a computer through a software (it is possible to set different parameters such as pulse repetition frequency, duty cycle, and current intensity). For the experiments a power Fabry Perot 1035 laser diode operating in pulse with μφ 1055 nm, I th = 40 mA, and I op =750 mA was used with a single-mode SFM 128 optical fiber and an EM type optical coupler connected through alignment. Two types of measurements were conducted to demonstrate the usefulness of the experimental structure. In the first case the amplitude of the voltage pulses was measured at the output of an optical detector with receiving diode in a built-in amplifier with a 50 kΩ load resistance. In the second stage measurements were conducted to determine the optical power injected in the optical fiber and received at the reception cell of a power meter. Another parameter of optical coupling that can be measured using the experimental structure is irradiation. This parameter is very important to determine the optimum cutting angle of the fiber for continuity welding.

The WFE of the optical remote sensor system include the engineering from the fabrication processing, the position from deploying of segmented mirrors in orbit. In the process of feasibility demonstration, the total WFE error budget of large deployable optics plays a vital role in the general design of the remote sensor. According to results of calculation and iteration, in order to ensure the optical performance of the remote sensor in orbit, the WFE of the remote sensor is required to achieve λ/8rms (@ λ=632.8nm), and the WFE of the optical system is required to achieve λ/10rms（@ λ=632.8nm）. In this paper, the error from optical system design, which based the mission realization of optical fabrication and optical alignment.

The Magnetorheological finishing (MRF) process, based on the dwell time method with the constant normal spacing for flexible polishing, would bring out the normal contour error in the fine polishing complex surface such as aspheric surface. The normal contour error would change the ribbon’s shape and removal characteristics of consistency for MRF. Based on continuously scanning the normal spacing between the workpiece and the finder by the laser range finder, the novel method was put forward to measure the normal contour errors while polishing complex surface on the machining track. The normal contour errors was measured dynamically, by which the workpiece’s clamping precision, multi-axis machining NC program and the dynamic performance of the MRF machine were achieved for the verification and security check of the MRF process. The unit for measuring the normal contour errors of complex surface on-machine was designed. Based on the measurement unit’s results as feedback to adjust the parameters of the feed forward control and the multi-axis machining, the optimized servo control method was presented to compensate the normal contour errors. The experiment for polishing 180mm × 180mm aspherical workpiece of fused silica by MRF was set up to validate the method. The results show that the normal contour error was controlled in less than 10um. And the PV value of the polished surface accuracy was improved from 0.95λ to 0.09λ under the conditions of the same process parameters. The technology in the paper has been being applied in the PKC600-Q1 MRF machine developed by the China Academe of Engineering Physics for engineering application since 2014. It is being used in the national huge optical engineering for processing the ultra-precision optical parts.

With the development of optical technology, optical instruments become smaller and more integrated. Because of the high diffraction efficiency and light weight, binary optical elements become more and more popular. Binary optical elements can only blaze at one wavelength, it has high diffraction efficiency at design wavelength. But the diffraction efficiency of binary optical elements will decrease quickly with the change of wavelength. And this situation will have a big impact on image quality. Since double-layer BOE can blaze at two wavelengths, it has high diffraction efficiency at wide spectral bandwidth. There are kinds of fabrication errors. Based on scalar diffraction theory, this paper analyzes the diffraction efficiency of double-layer BOE with fabrication errors and simulates it in MATLAB. Simulation shows the diffraction efficiency decreases quickly if the depth errors of two layers are opposite, and this situation should be avoided. As for periodic errors, tilt errors and angular errors, these fabrication errors have different impact of double-layer BOE on diffraction efficiency.

This contribution provides an overview of optical techniques for sound recording, sound synthesis, and sound processing. Several applications of optical devices, examples, and references describing the history and current trends in this field will be given. For sound recording, optical devices can be used to capture vibrations and to transform mechanical sound waves into an electrical signal. Optical storage of audio has a long history beginning with analog sound tracks on film up to recent optical media as for example the Blue-ray Disc. For sound synthesis based on optical systems we will give examples based on graphical sound and the photo-sonic disc for time-domain synthesis. Frequency-domain synthesis techniques which are controlled by a time-frequency (image domain) signal representation will be explained. For analog sound processing the use of a light emitting diode coupled to a photo-electric cell (light dependent resistor) constitutes a nonlinear two-port electrical network or element. These optocouplers have still a wide range of applications for switching, gating, and volume control of audio signals due to their special nonlinear behavior. Hence, there exists a broad interest for high-quality discrete-time models of these devices. An overview of several applications with these optical nonlinearities will be given.

This project involves the construction of a remote-controlled laboratory experiment that can be accessed by online students. The project addresses a need to provide a laboratory experience for students who are taking online courses to be able to provide an in-class experience. The chosen task for the remote user is an optical engineering experiment, specifically aligning a spatial filter. We instrument the physical laboratory set up in Tucson, AZ at the University of Arizona. The hardware in the spatial filter experiment is augmented by motors and cameras to allow the user to remotely control the hardware. The user interacts with a software on their computer, which communicates with a server via Internet connection to the host computer in the Optics Laboratory at the University of Arizona. Our final overall system is comprised of several subsystems. These are the optical experiment set-up, which is a spatial filter experiment; the mechanical subsystem, which interfaces the motors with the micrometers to move the optical hardware; the electrical subsystem, which allows for the electrical communications from the remote computer to the host computer to the hardware; and finally the software subsystem, which is the means by which messages are communicated throughout the system. The goal of the project is to convey as much of an in-lab experience as possible by allowing the user to directly manipulate hardware and receive visual feedback in real-time. Thus, the remote user is able to learn important concepts from this particular experiment and is able to connect theory to the physical world by actually seeing the outcome of a procedure. The latter is a learning experience that is often lost with distance learning and is one that this project hopes to provide.

The task of this research project is to define the extent of applicability of such 3D self-manufacture approach to the production of optical fastenings. The resulting lack of equipment, to be used for demonstration of simple experiments, which would be both competitive in performance and cheap to produce, led to the decision to research opportunities for self-manufacturing.

With the development of space and aviation industry, the optical systems with high resolution and better imaging quality are required. According to the alignment technical process, the factors of every step which have big influence to the imaging quality are analyzed. It is detected that the micro-stress assembly of the optical unit and the high co-axial precision of the entire optical system are the two important factors which are supposed to determine how well the imaging quality of the optical system is; also the technical methods are discussed to ensure these two factors from the engineering view. The reflective interference testing method to measure the surface figure and the transitive interference testing method to measure the wave aberration of the optical unit are combined to ensure the micro-stress assembly of the optical unit, so it will not bring astigmatism to the whole system imaging quality. Optical alignment machining and precision alignment are combined to ensure the high co-axial precision of the optical system. An optical lens of high accuracy is assembled by using these methods; the final wave aberration of optical lens is 0.022λ.

The Student Research Laboratory for Optical Engineering in the ITMO University is the space for self-education and skills improving in the field of optics, optical engineering, photonics, light engineering for all the people: for students, graduates and experts. It is the space for realization of project for the motivated groups of people.

The optical engineering program at Rose-Hulman recently developed a course titled “Optomechanics and Optical Engineering Lab.” This course focuses on the design, assembly, and alignment of benchtop optical systems in an effort to expose students to the synthesis of concepts from the areas of geometrical optics, physical optics, photonic devices, and optomechanics. Minimal guidance is provided to the students regarding procedure – students must devise their own methodology and data collection/analysis plan. We present results from the implementation of this new course and details on the projects that the students carry out in the areas of spectroscopy, interferometry, photonics, and imaging.

The undergraduate educational program “Light Engineering” of an advanced level of studies is focused on development of scientific learning outcomes and training of professionals, whose activities are in the interdisciplinary fields of Optical engineering and Technical physics. The program gives practical experience in transmission, reception, storage, processing and displaying information using opto-electronic devices, automation of optical systems design, computer image modeling, automated quality control and characterization of optical devices. The program is implemented in accordance with Educational standards of the ITMO University. The specific features of the Program is practice- and problem-based learning implemented by engaging students to perform research and projects, internships at the enterprises and in leading Russian and international research educational centers. The modular structure of the Program and a significant proportion of variable disciplines provide the concept of individual learning for each student. Learning outcomes of the program’s graduates include theoretical knowledge and skills in natural science and core professional disciplines, deep knowledge of modern computer technologies, research expertise, design skills, optical and optoelectronic systems and devices.

Russia’s student training program continues to set new, ever more difficult goals for itself every year. Nowadays, it has three main aims: the first is to train well-educated professionals; the second is to encourage students' research activity; and last but not least is to draw youth into the arena of global education. This latter point has recently become a key purpose for just about every university in the country. Thus, the Student Research Laboratory for Optical Engineering (SRLOE) at ITMO University strives to provide career guidance for students and to promote light and photon technologies. The article below explores the targets of the SRLOE, its great impact to development and progress in this field, and the new vision of technical education. Today we take for granted all those modern things which didn’t exist a couple of decades ago, and life proves that there is a multitude of undiscovered and unexplored technologies within this field. Students all over the world aspire to new heights.

Nowadays, the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is one of the most prospective educational technologies. PBL is based on evaluation of learning outcomes of a student, both professional and personal, instead of traditional evaluation of theoretical knowledge and selective practical skills. Such an approach requires changes in the curricula development. There should be introduced projects (cases) imitating real tasks from the professional life. These cases should include a problem summary with necessary theoretic description, charts, graphs, information sources etc, task to implement and evaluation indicators and criteria. Often these cases are evaluated with the assessment-center method. To motivate students for the given task they could be divided into groups and have a contest. Whilst it looks easy to implement in social, economic or teaching fields PBL is pretty complicated in engineering studies. Examples of cases in the first-cycle optical engineering studies are shown in this paper. Procedures of the PBL implementation and evaluation are described.

This paper presents a methodology for designing an athermalised dual field of view zoom lens in long wave infrared (8μm - 12μm) spectral band by using the benefits of paraxial optics. By using this design methodology the optical designer can develop many types of complex optical systems in a straightforward way. The key feature of this design methodology relies on utilization of paraxial optics for defining the initial positions of the optical elements. The optical design is based on moving a single lens for changing the optical system’s FOV thereby reducing the number of moving parts and simplifying the assembly procedure of the system. The optical design begins with optimization process using paraxial optics. Then the optical design using paraxial optics is used as a template for designing the final optical system by lens material selection for compensating the shift in system’s focus due to thermal effects and lens thickness tuning.

We report on the performance of a compact photon pair source that was retrieved from a failed space launch. The source had been installed in a nanosatellite and was found to be completely operational upon recovery. Comparison of post-recovery and baseline data suggests that there is no degradation in brightness or polarization correlation between photon pairs. We describe the assembly technique for the robust source. Its survival provides strong evidence that it is possible to design rugged quantum optical systems.

The report describes the development and optimization of optical scheme of the illumination optics of the entrance slit for the high-resolution fiber-fed echelle-spectrograph. The optical system of the illuminator provides the necessary agreement of the numerical apertures of the fiber and spectrograph, as well as it allows to install the necessary equipment to obtain the required structure of the image. As a result of the designing two components illumination system was obtained, which has a good transmission in a specified spectral range and low cost. This research provides a good instrument for performing modern researches for the astronomy.

Chinese astronomical community has suggested to construct a high resolution precision and wide field survey of universal optical / infrared telescope, suitable for a wide range of cutting-edge scientific research subject. The telescope diameter is 12 meters, and it is composed of 84 pieces of hexagonal mirrors. After the completion, it could be a world's largest telescope. Its wide field survey function will be work together with the 30 meters telescope in the near future on the observation of complementary. The telescope optical system adopted innovative design ideas, its multiple focuses can achieve rapid switching; its atmospheric dispersion corrector lens-prism can correct aberration also, and with the advantage of simple structure; two layers of Nasmyth platform can be placed more scientific instruments. LAMOST, a Chinese large spectrum survey telescope has been built and put into operation many years, it has successfully developed the two segmented optical mirrors and one of them is with deformation of thin mirror active optical technology, as well as the batch grinding hexagonal off-axis mirror technology developed in recent years, for construction of the 12 meters telescope laid a good technical foundation.

Technology with the use of programmable computer-controlled system and a set of special instruments, which makes possible aspherization of off-axis large-size optical elements of astronomical and space telescopes with deviation from the nearest sphere of more than 1 mm, was developed.

Several next generation astronomical telescopes or large optical systems utilize aspheric/freeform optics for creating a segmented optical system. Multiple mirrors can be combined to form a larger optical surface or used as a single surface to avoid obscurations. In this paper, we demonstrate a specific case of the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST). This optic is a 4.2 m in diameter off-axis primary mirror using ZERODUR thin substrate, and has been successfully completed in the Optical Engineering and Fabrication Facility (OEFF) at the University of Arizona, in 2016. As the telescope looks at the brightest object in the sky, our own Sun, the primary mirror surface quality meets extreme specifications covering a wide range of spatial frequency errors. In manufacturing the DKIST mirror, metrology systems have been studied, developed and applied to measure low-to-mid-to-high spatial frequency surface shape information in the 4.2 m super-polished optical surface. In this paper, measurements from these systems are converted to Power Spectral Density (PSD) plots and combined in the spatial frequency domain. Results cover 5 orders of magnitude in spatial frequencies and meet or exceed specifications for this large aspheric mirror. Precision manufacturing of the super-polished DKIST mirror enables a new level of solar science.

RF photonic systems place extremely high demands on optical component performance. To achieve this, a low noise, high power optical source, a high power, linear and low Vπ optical modulator, sharp and uniform optical filters and high saturation power photodetectors are required. While some of these individual components exist, they have not, to date, been integrated in any currently existing monolithic or hybrid photonic integration platform. In this paper, recent advances in discrete component performance is presented, including optical sources, modulators and detectors. In addition, options for the integration of these components onto an integrated photonic platform is reviewed.

Specially formulated Gradient-Index polymeric optical materials offer capabilities not possible in conventional GRIN or homogenous optics. A novel technology that enables large scale processing of nanolayered polymer films into real, performance-enhancing lenses and other optical components for Defense-related optical systems is currently being employed. Polymeric nanoLayer GRIN materials (LGRIN) offer the ability to design and fabricate optics with custom gradient refractive index profiles in optical components up to 90 mm in diameter and approaching 5 cm thick. High performance achromatic singlet lenses were designed using specially developed ZEMAX design tools and exceptionally high quality lenses were fabricated from the LGRIN materials. Optical performance of LGRIN optics is shown to be significantly better than with conventional monolithic optics while also significantly reducing optical system mass, volume, and optical element count. Understanding the thermal behavior of such optical components is essential to their operational capability. An experimental study of the effects of elevated operational environments to validate the feasibility of deploying LGRIN optics into real-world operational environments was carried out. Interferometric and physical measurements of structure and optical performance of LGRIN lenses was completed over a 30° - 50°C temperature range. It is shown that nanolayered LGRIN optics and components exhibit no significant variation in optical performance with temperature as compared with commercial, homogenous acrylic optics in the designed operational thermal range.

Long range identification (ID) or ID at closer range of small targets has its limitations in imaging due to the demand for very high-transverse sensor resolution. This is, therefore, a motivation to look for one-dimensional laser techniques for target ID. These include laser vibrometry and laser range profiling. Laser vibrometry can give good results, but is not always robust as it is sensitive to certain vibrating parts on the target being in the field of view. Laser range profiling is attractive because the maximum range can be substantial, especially for a small laser beam width. A range profiler can also be used in a scanning mode to detect targets within a certain sector. The same laser can also be used for active imaging when the target comes closer and is angularly resolved. Our laser range profiler is based on a laser with a pulse width of 6 ns (full width half maximum). This paper will show both experimental and simulated results for laser range profiling of small boats out to a 6 to 7-km range and a unmanned arrial vehicle (UAV) mockup at close range (1.3 km). The naval experiments took place in the Baltic Sea using many other active and passive electro-optical sensors in addition to the profiling system. The UAV experiments showed the need for a high-range resolution, thus we used a photon counting system in addition to the more conventional profiler used in the naval experiments. This paper shows the influence of target pose and range resolution on the capability of classification. The typical resolution (in our case 0.7 m) obtainable with a conventional range finder type of sensor can be used for large target classification with a depth structure over 5 to 10 m or more, but for smaller targets such as a UAV a high resolution (in our case 7.5 mm) is needed to reveal depth structures and surface shapes. This paper also shows the need for 3-D target information to build libraries for comparison of measured and simulated range profiles. At closer ranges, full 3-D images should be preferable.

One of the major benefits of optical fiber sensors for applications to structural health monitoring and other structural measurements is their inherent multiplexing capabilities, meaning that a large number of sensing locations can be achieved with a single optical fiber. It has been well demonstrated that point wise sensors can be multiplexed to form sensor networks or optical fibers integrated with distributed sensing techniques. The spacing between sensing locations can also be tuned to match different length scales of interest. This article presents an overview of directions to adapt optical fiber sensor networking techniques into new applications where limitations such as available power or requirements for high data acquisition speeds are a driving factor. In particular, the trade-off between high fidelity sensor information vs. rapid signal processing or data acquisition is discussed.

Historically, progress in lithography has been driven by steady advances in exposure tool and optical technology; shorter wavelength, higher numerical aperture (NA) and resolution enhancement techniques to drive the k1 factor as close as possible to the physical limit. Over the past decade, however, the pace of progress has been gated more by patterning – what we do after the resist image is printed – than by higher resolution imaging. The emphasis on patterning rather than just printing has created new pressures in many parts of the overall process, beginning with the design itself. The breakdown of lithographic error budgets into CD and OL tolerances has given way to total edge placement error (EPE) budgets where CD, OL and edge roughness, as well as film and etch variations, must all be controlled to meet the required tolerances. Contact hole and cut mask placement have likewise been tightened to single digit EPE budgets. Collaborative research between technology specialists in multiple areas, such as metrology, etch, process control and simulation, will all be required to deliver these patterning solutions for some years to come. This paper will describe some of these challenges in more detail, and suggest directions for future research to keep optical lithography relevant even below the 10 nm node.

Compact optical systems generally form the backbone of integrated optoelectronic microsystems. Miniaturization as well as integration requirements result in system configurations with folded optical axis such as in planar integrated freespace optics. For optimum performance in such systems geometries, the surface profiles of the corresponding optical elements deviate from classical spherical or aspherical shapes. Optimized plane-symmetric or freeform optical elements are required instead. We discuss design, fabrication and characterization of freeform optical elements for the integration of optical microsystems. The systems performance is demonstrated for imaging as well as sensor applications.

The authors designed and fabricated optical power splitters, which make an alternative solution to existing commercial products. The proposed solutions use multicore microstructured optical fiber designed for new generation telecommunication networks made in Spatial Division Multiplexing (SDM) system. The splitters presented in this paper aim to have low loss and to be compatible with existing elements of optical networks, and in the same time to eliminate disadvantages of existing splitters. Two designs presented in this paper are made in all-fiber technology in order to ensure high environmental stability. The authors present detailed description and experimental results for both optical power splitters’ designs.

Biology and medicine sample measurement takes an important role in the microscopic optical technology. Optical tweezer has the advantage of accurate capture and non-pollution of the sample. The SPR(surface plasmon resonance) sensor has so many advantages include high sensitivity, fast measurement, less consumption of sample and label-free detection of biological sample that the SPR sensing technique has been used for surface topography, analysis of biochemical and immune, drug screening and environmental monitoring. If they combine, they will play an important role in the biological, chemical and other subjects. The system we propose use the multi-axis cage system, by using the methods of reflection and transmiss ion to improve the space utilization. The SPR system and optical tweezer were builtup and combined in one system. The cage of multi-axis system gives full play to its accuracy, simplicity and flexibility. The size of the system is 20 * 15 * 40 cm3 and thus the sample can be replaced to switch between the optical tweezers system and the SPR system in the small space. It means that we get the refractive index of the sample and control the particle in the same system. In order to control the revolving stage, get the picture and achieve the data stored automatically, we write a LabVIEW procedure. Then according to the data from the back focal plane calculate the refractive index of the sample. By changing the slide we can trap the particle as optical tweezer, which makes us measurement and trap the sample at the same time.

As key components of the optical system of the space optical remote sensor, Space mirrors’ surface accuracy had a direct impact that couldn’t be ignored of the imaging quality of the remote sensor. In the future, large-diameter mirror would become an important trend in the development of space optical technology. However, a sharp increase in the mirror diameter would cause the deformation of the mirror and increase the thermal deformation caused by temperature variations. A reasonable lightweight structure designed to ensure the optical performance of the system to meet the requirements was required. As a new type of lightweight approach, topology optimization technology was an important direction of the current space optical remote sensing technology research. The lightweight design of rectangular mirror was studied. the variable density method of topology optimization was used. The mirror type precision of the mirror assemblies was obtained in different conditions. PV value was less than λ/10 and RMS value was less than λ/50(λ = 632.8nm). The results show that the entire The mirror assemblies can achieve a sufficiently high static rigidity, dynamic stiffness and thermal stability and has the capability of sufficient resistance to external environmental interference . Key words: topology optimization, space mirror, lightweight, space optical remote sensor

The recent advances in the optics manufacturing industry to achieve the capability of fabricating rotationally nonsymmetric optical quality surfaces have considerably stimulated the optical designs with freeform components. This opens up new horizons for novel optical systems with larger fields of view and higher performance, or significantly more compact in volume at equal performance compared to conventional systems. A bottleneck to the broad industrial applications of freeform optics remains the lack of a high performance optical metrology tool capable of measuring significant surface departures and slopes of the parts. To address this issue, we have developed a fiber-based swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) system for point-cloud freeform metrology, where two-axis galvanometer scanners are leveraged for high-speed lateral scans. We specifically designed a custom all-reflective achromatic pupil relay system to achieve a diffraction-limited scanning configuration. Coupled with a large field-of-view (FOV) telecentric scan lens, the imaging covers 28.9 mm × 28.9 mm FOV with 35 μm lateral resolution and more than 600 μm depth of focus. Freeform metrology is demonstrated for an Alvarez surface of 400 μm surface sag. The high sensitivity of the SS-OCT system allows for capturing the slope variations of the part up to the maximum slope that is 5 degrees in this case. Specific surface reconstruction, rendering and fitting algorithms were developed to evaluate the metrology results and investigate the accuracy and precision of the measurements.

All-Russian competition in optics and optical engineering has been carrying out for several years. Leading Russian universities and institutes that teach in different areas of optics take part in this event. One of the main features of this event is that participants may be students of all years (except post-graduate students), and the exercises of the competition include many tasks involving different optical disciplines (applied optics, lasers, optical devices and instruments, geometric optics, etc.). One of the main requirements of the Education Ministry to such events is that the competition must include both practical and theoretical parts. Practical part usually includes several tasks, and each task is a demonstration of an optical phenomenon or an optical instrument or device and involves questions concerning the demonstrated experiment. Theoretical part is a set of tasks and questions that should be solved and answered in written form. Organization committee and judges which are the members of teaching staff of different universities prepare complex theoretical tasks and arrange a set of practical questions. Nevertheless the set of task may include simple questions which can be solved using basic knowledge of optics, observation and erudition. Thus, such competitions help to discover the most talented and motivated students which have great potential. In the report the problems of organization and carrying out of such competition in optics are discussed. Examples of tasks which were used in different years and also retrospective of the competition are presented.

Student research laboratory for optical engineering is comfortable place for student's scientific and educational activity. The main ideas of laboratory, process of creation of laboratory and also activity of laboratory are described in this article. At ITMO University in 2013-2014 were formed a lot of research laboratories. SNLO is a student research (scientific) laboratory formed by the Department of Applied and computer optics of the University ITMO (Information Technologies of Mechanics and Optics). Activity of laboratory is career guidance of entrants and students in the field of optical engineering. Student research laboratory for optical engineering is a place where student can work in the interesting and entertaining scientific atmosphere.

In this talk, we are going to present our new try to set up National Optical Education Small Private Online Course (SPOC) system, which relates about 15 universities who has optical engineering education around China. The SPOC system is guided by the National Teaching Steering Committee, and is designed to enhance the sharing the best teaching and training resources in the advanced university to the other universities all over the China.

Lens design is a cornerstone of optical engineering education. At Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, our implementation begins with a review of paraxial optics and system layout before moving into a theoretical treatment of monochromatic and chromatic aberration theory and image quality; small design problems presented along the way provide context and exposure to lens design software (Code V and Zemax). At the undergraduate level, pedagogical methods which focus on open-ended design/synthesis are especially important as these skills are still developing in students. To this end, a series of three design projects were recently introduced. The first project is the design of a fast photographic zoom lens. Constraints are provided for sensor format, overall length, allowable glasses, maximum number of elements, maximum distortion, and the required image quality. In the second design project, students are tasked with the design of a reflective spectrometer system utilizing off-the-shelf optics from a provided list. Design specifications are placed on the wavelength span, resolution bandwidth, input format, and module footprint. The third design project places students in the position of selecting the best design for manufacture based on the results of an inverse sensitivity analysis and Monte Carlo tolerance analysis. The results are weighed against the expected manufacturing cost. This paper details the implementation of these projects, including lessons learned, assessment methodology, and student outcomes. Anecdotally, students who successfully complete all three projects demonstrate deeper understanding of lens design and several specific topics (optimization, multiconfiguration systems, coordinate breaks, diffractive optics, and tolerancing).

In this paper, the simulation experiments both of Abbe-Porter spatial filtering and of optical processing of image addition and subtraction with a grating filter are designed and performed. We realize the design and operation of optical information processing simulation experiments based on information optics theory and the experimental principle by using MATLAB programing language. The spatial filtering of Fourier spectrum, one of the main concepts in information optics, is intuitively described via the simulation experiments, and the experiment process is demonstrated step by step. The results show that the simulation experiments are really helpful for the filter's design and the image processing. These developed virtual experiments have been used in experimental teaching for undergraduate students majored in optics or optical engineering, which effectively assist students to understand concept and principle of optical information processing.

We provide an overview of the development and current structure for cultivating the success of graduate student in Optical Engineering at Beijing University of Technology. Using the educational environment for graduate students in Advanced Laser Manufacturing as an example, we present the environment, the curriculum and some specific programs which demonstrate a multifaceted strategy combining production, study and research, including international cooperation, applications engineering and technology-based research. The programs are tightly linked to the national economic goals and specifically to development of the manufacturing industry which has a critical need for highly skilled and motivated graduates.

Modern tendencies of higher education require development of master programs providing achievement of learning outcomes corresponding to quickly variable job market needs. ITMO University represented by Applied and Computer Optics Department and Optical Design and Testing Laboratory jointly with Warsaw University of Technology represented by the Institute of Micromechanics and Photonics at The Faculty of Mechatronics have developed a novel international master double-degree program “Optical Design” accumulating the expertise of both universities including experienced teaching staff, educational technologies, and experimental resources. The program presents studies targeting research and professional activities in high-tech fields connected with optical and optoelectronics devices, optical engineering, numerical methods and computer technologies. This master program deals with the design of optical systems of various types, assemblies and layouts using computer modeling means; investigation of light distribution phenomena; image modeling and formation; development of optical methods for image analysis and optical metrology including optical testing, materials characterization, NDT and industrial control and monitoring. The goal of this program is training a graduate capable to solve a wide range of research and engineering tasks in optical design and metrology leading to modern manufacturing and innovation. Variability of the program structure provides its flexibility and adoption according to current job market demands and personal learning paths for each student. In addition considerable proportion of internship and research expands practical skills. Some special features of the “Optical Design” program which implements the best practices of both Universities, the challenges and lessons learnt during its realization are presented in the paper.

Usually mathematical abstractions are used as examples in teaching of general courses as well as in special courses such as numerical recipes. Using of examples from physics (or optics in particular) makes the course more interesting and understandable for students in optical engineering. In Applied and Computer Optics Department of ITMO University the course “Numerical Recipes in Optics” is studied via practical usage of optical image modeling and quality analysis. It helps to make studying of numerical recipes (such as numerical integration, approximation, fast Fourier transform etc.) more useful. Moreover it gives deeper understanding in mathematical models of physical processes. The most interesting exercises corresponding to different numerical recipes are presented in the paper.

At the end of master program it is necessary to measure students’ knowledge and competences. Master thesis is the one way, but it measure deep knowledge in quite narrow area. Another way of measure is additional final examination that includes topics from the most important courses. In Applied and Computer Optics Department of ITMO University such examination includes theoretical questions and practical tasks from several courses in one examination. Theoretical section of examination is written and second section is practical. Practical section takes place in laboratory with real equipment or with computer simulation. In the paper examples of tasks for master programs, and results of examination are presented.

The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) recently revised their published list of programspecific criteria. Beginning during the 2014-15 cycle, all engineering programs which include “optical” and “photonic” in their titles must meet new specific criteria to receive ABET accreditation. One portion of the wording under the curriculum section states “The curriculum must prepare students to have knowledge of and appropriate laboratory experience in: geometrical optics, physical optics, optical materials, and optical and/or photonic devices and systems.” Last year, the Rose-Hulman optical engineering curriculum committee revised our baccalaureate degree program. A portion of this effort sought to improve alignment to the ABET program-specific criteria. Here we review the outcomes of this effort, including our documented continuous improvement process, the realignment of our existing courses along the four tracks laid out by ABET, and the introduction of new undergraduate courses to improve student learning.