Optical Alignment

Techniquesfor graduate students

A technical course on

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Course Inspired By SPIE: SC010

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Introduction to Optical Alignment Techniques

• Inspired by SPIE SC010 – Introduction to Optical Alignment Techniques• Aimed at Canadian graduate students

• FREE!• Norm. $305/student • Funded by:

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Dr. Kenneth Castle, President of Ruda-Cardinal Inc.

Introduction to Optical Alignment Techniques

• Learning Outcomes:• Recognize and diagnose fundamental imaging aberrations• Determine cause of optical errors (ex. misalignment, mounting, or fabrication)• Use optical tools to adjust systems logically and efficiently• Align basic lens systems and telescopes• Align complex systems: off-axis aspherical surfaces, automatic mountings

Dr. Kenneth Castle, President of Ruda-Cardinal Inc.

Speaker: Dr. Castle

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Dr. Kenneth R. Castle received a B.S. in physics atthe University of Massachusetts in 1977. He thentraveled to Arizona to pursue his PhD in opticalengineering at the University of Arizona, receiving itin 1985. At the end of his PhD. he was hired by Dr.Mitchell C. Ruda (the originator of the SPIE shortcourse), whom he worked with until the latter’sdeath in 2013. Dr. Castle agreed to take overteaching this course in 2014. During the summer of2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Castleworked with SPIE to create a video version of theshort course and is looking forward to being able toteach the course live again in the near future.

Introduction & First Order Review• This section will explain why it is important to learn the basics of

optical alignment, and review first order terms like focal length, f/#, and Airy disk.

Tuesday May 25th

Optical Aberrations• This section will cover the three aberrations usually encountered

during optical alignment, and how they can be used to help diagnose mis-behaving optical systems. These aberrations are spherical aberration, coma, and astigmatism.

Tuesday June 1st

14:30-16:00

14:30-16:00

Introduction to Optical Alignment Techniques

Dr. Kenneth Castle, President of Ruda-Cardinal Inc.

Alignment Basics• This section discusses how lenses are commonly aligned using the

optical tools discussed in the previous section as well as using advanced tools. We will also discuss how a Cassegrain telescope can be aligned to three different levels of accuracy.

Tuesday June 15th

Aspherical Alignments• This section is a little more advanced. It discusses ways to align

aspheric elements using the tools previously discussed. A novel mounting concept for an off-axis parabola is discussed, as well as how spherical aberration can be used to align these difficult elements.

Tuesday June 22nd

14:30-16:00

14:30-16:00

Alignment Tools• This section will discuss common “tools” that people use for

optical alignment, including an alignment telescope, a beam-splitting microscope, and the human eye.

Tuesday June 8th

14:30-16:00