Two new families of zoom optical systems, developed for industrial and medical laser applications, are introduced. First
we discuss the main physical processes involved in industrial laser applications and the requirements for the optics. The
spatial beam parameters are reviewed, explaining the relatively new concepts of intrinsic stigmatism and intrinsic
astigmatism. Then two new zoom systems are discussed, including experimental examples: VariSpot(R), which delivers
round spots with adjustable diameters at fixed working distances, and VariFocTM, able to adjust spot shapes and sizes at
different working distances. We conclude that these systems represent a valuable addition for industrial and medical
lasers.
More than 60 demonstrations and basic experiments in Optics have been compiled. They can be carried out by secondary and university students in the classroom or at home, and have been conceived considering low cost and easy-to-get materials. The goal is to offer didactic resources, showing that Optics can be taught in an attractive and amusing way. The experiments try to stimulate scientific curiosity, and generate interest in the observation of our physical world. The work could be collected as a book, where each demonstration would be contained in one or two pages, including a title, a list of the required materials and a concise explanation about what to do and observe. Associated with the experimental content, we propose a web page, namely, http://www.ucm.es/info/expoptic, that accepts experiments sent by anyone interested in Optics, which can be used as a forum to interchange information on this educational topic.
KEYWORDS: Global system for mobile communications, Beam propagation method, Lenses, Sensors, Beam analyzers, Optical components, Image sensors, Geometrical optics, Monochromatic aberrations, Standards development
The phase space analyzer is an optical device that uses slits, lenses and an irradiance-calibrated image detector in order to characterize optical beams. With such a device it is possible to obtain the beam power distribution along the two-dimensional phase space coordinates corresponding to a given transverse direction. The usual setup includes hard edge slits, and it has been considered in previous studies to measure stigmatic and simple astigmatic beams. We analyze a phase space analyzer with Gaussian slits to measure Gauss Schell-model beams. Special attention is given to general astigmatic beams (such as twisted irradiance and/or twisted phase beams), where a characterization along two orthogonal transverse axes is not enough.
We define the pseudo-symmetrical (PS), or the non-rotating general astigmatic beams, and investigate them theoretically and experimentally. We show that to any type of symmetrical beam, such as stigmatic, aligned simple astigmatic, or rotated simple astigmatic, corresponds a type of PS beam, which we call pseudo-stigmatic, pseudo-aligned simple astigmatic, and pseudo-rotated simple astigmatic, respectively. The PS beams behave identical to the symmetrical ones as long as only rotationally symmetric optical systems are involved, and as long as the second- order moments method is used to characterize these beams. We show how to characterize the PS beams using this method, how to generate them, we study their propagation properties, and show how to identify and measure them in comparison to the measurement of the symmetrical beams.
We investigate from both a theoretical and an experimental point of view the dependence of the spatial parameters (integrated along the pulse length) of TEA carbon dioxide laser pulses on the presence of nitrogen in the gas mixture and also on the size of an intracavity diaphragm used to attenuate higher-order modes.
New parameters are proposed which characterize arbitrary multimode tridimensional laser beams propagating through ABCD optical systems. Such definitions are shown to be related with the bidimensional concept of beam quality. Dependence on the propagation distance and coherence properties of the input field is illustrated by means of some examples.
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