Noob question here. I'm comparing two cameras mostly for fun and learning purposes. For measuring MTF, the unit there seems to be line-pairs per millimeter. What I'm not completely sure about is what where this millimeter is. Do we mean millimeters in the film or sensor, or is there a common distance to target, which would be the reference point. I guess its the film, since I understand that the measure is done for lenses.

In a follow up question. The two cameras I'm comparing are of different sensor sizes. Does it make more sense to measure "line-pairs per pixel", or something in the lines of TVL? Just fill the frame with the line-pair target (such as the Koren lens test image) and check on waveform where the lines converge to gray. Whichever gets closer to the thicker end wins.

Am I even making any sense :D

Hi, I am using a pulsed laser from thorlabs called nlp52b it is a 50mW pulsed laser with 10 ns pulsed duration. I want to use it but cannot decide on the objective lens. I selected RMS40X (thorlabs). I even asked the tech support but they could not answer. My doubt is will this laser damage the lens? what parameters to keep in mind?

Hello all I am currently trying to find a guide that breaks down limits on diamond point turning and its capabilities. Limits in terms of hardness of material, radius callout, surface finish, sag equation and scratch dig spec. Any resource would be appreciated

Hello all. Are there any books you guys would recommend for cold shield design and testing. Any book or paper recommendation would be appreciated.

Hi there,
I am building custom FPV goggles and the screens seem too close to the eyes to properly focus on them. They are 0.49 inch OLED screens, one for each eye. and they are about 1 inch away from the eye. What lenses should I get so that I can focus on the image and see the picture clearly?

If I want to collimate a laserbeam from an SM fiber, is it better to use a Shear Plate collimator? I did not found any quantitative value how good they are.
Right now I am just checking the beam diameter at 10cm and 2meters away from the collimator lens on a millimeter scale paper, and I wonder, if I would get better results with a Shear Plate

I am new to the software I need help : how to Design optical system that use FBG reflected wave at 1550 nm. Change the laser operating wavelength from 1.48 to 1.62 microns and measure the power of transmitted and reflected waves. -Draw the spectrum of signal at Tx and Rx. -Draw curve between power (transmitted and reflected) with wavelength.

Hi, I have a small laser head (9x12mm cylinder), which I'd like to mount in a larger tube in a way that it comes out coaligned with the housing tube axis. I'd first like to measure the output angle, so I can correct it later with a 3dprinted housing.
I've tried mounting the laser on a lathe chuck and spinning it, but I keep getting inconsistent measurements everytime I detach and reattach the laser to the chuck. Could you think of a better more appropriate/accurate rig to measure this? I have a few heads, which seem to indicate angles below 2 degrees, probably trying to get it down below 0.1
Thanks!

I am currently doing an internship in a research lab and i got the task to look for a camera type that is able to return pictures that fulfill the task above. I have been searching for a long time now and i am starting to doubt the existence of such cameras. Is it even technically possible?

I graduated with a BS in physics 6 years ago and have been working a desk job since then. I am planning on applying for a master degree in optical engineering in the fall with the hope of eventually getting into an aerospace/defense research role. But I feel like I'm settling by taking this route. While the work being done in photonics/optics seems interesting, I feel like my real passion is circuit design, prototyping, PCB design, using microcontrollers, and building cool practical things like drones, robots, remote control devices, embedded devices, computers, etc. Even though my undergrad degree is in physics I taught myself all this electronics stuff by building projects and reading books. But I feel like I'll never be able to get a job designing, building, and testing cool stuff without a second BS in computer engineering, so that's what my gut is telling me to do.

I dream about someday working at NASA and being able to design rocket avionics/guidance systems or the electronics systems for rovers, or designing cool defense drones or satellites for the air force, but i know there are others with more knowledge and experience for those jobs. With a degree in optical engineering i feel like I'd be pigeonholed into a niche area where I'm just designing lenses or mirrors (maybe I'm wrong about that), which doesn't seem very exciting.

I don't want to just skip to a masters in computer engineering for a few reasons: i don't know what to specialized in, I want to take all the cool classes that I've read about in course catalogs (like computer architecture, embedded systems, robotics, AI, etc), and I think with the prerequisites it would take me 4 years to finish my masters anyway, and it would be more expensive than a BS.

Can anyone offer any advice? Am I right in following my gut and going for a second bachelors in computer engineering? Should I just stick with my current path (masters in applied physics -> photonics/optics) and just work on electronics projects as a hobby on the side? What kind of cool optics work do you do (maybe I'm wrong about optics being niche and not exciting)? I'm confused, and feel like I'm wasting my life.

For an Even Asphere surface : radius, Conic, 2nd, 4th , 6th parameters are know. What will be parameters of mirror image of that surface be ? Radius will be opposite sign, but what sign will the other parameters be ?

I want to transition from academia to industry due to the low wages in academia. Any tips on how to do this transition?

My background is in fundamental research with bits of applied research, including 17 published papers and one patent application ( not in the us).

I was wondering what would be the optical focal length that would constitute the most compact lens for the aperture?

I'm not talking about artiscally subject focal lengths, but an optimal focal length that would let in the most light for the least weight and for best optical quality.

Is a microscope with a 0.4 strehl ratio that bad.

These are four(A,B,C,D) afocal systems whose detector has its own focusing optics and is the same for all four.

Not knowing the Field Stop Diameter, but assuming that it is the same for all optical systems, (approximately on the focal plane of the objective (glued doublet or triplet)),

1. is it fair to say that between A and B, B che captures more details, given that it has a greater realFOV?
2. will the image of A have the same dimensions as the image of C?
3. with the necessary approximations, is there a quick way to establish whether more light reaches the retinal receptor, or the sensor pixel, with A or with D?

https://preview.redd.it/mr7plgu8n0yc1.jpg?width=4096&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4272b0ca960b1d20d7c9dbeab2f85f5e917dad5e

I am currently working on my IB physics extended essay, which focuses on macrobending losses with optical fiber. I am currently interested in converting the measurements made on power loss into a radiation attentuation coefficient. Currently, my data includes:

• Attenuation coefficient of the linear fiber
• Power loss with respect to radius (in dB), knowing the length of fiber and number of turns completed

How do I calculate the radiation attentuation coefficient using the values I have? The textbook I use only briefly mentions the equation

a_r = c_1*exp(c_2*R)

and does not explain how to apply it.

I can't seem to figure out how to obtain the above matrix starting with the reflection matrix in linear polarization basis. Here rxy means reflection when y polarization is input and x polarization is measured.

x : x polarization y : y polarization

• : RCP

• : LCP

Hi, I was wondering if there are companies that sell off the shelf (or customizable) periscopes/optical relay systems. We need something with a relatively small diameter, let's say max 60mm, and maybe 2.5m long. At the moment, we're using Schott image guides for it, but the problem is that the type of glass they are using gets blind really quickly in our nuclear environment. The transmission throughout the visible spectrum drops to 0 within a couple of months. As a comparison, we also use single fused silica fibers for other applications in the same environment, and their transmission drops by less than 1% in 6 months.

I'm asking companies if they can make me fused silica image guides (with 500k to 1M fibres), but no luck so far (at least not anything we can afford). So I'm looking into periscopes instead. Our budget is 50k, maybe 100k. Ideally we'd buy from a European company, but if that doesn't exist, worldwide is in principle also possible.

Optical system design noob here.

I understand both can be used to relay/magnify an image, and that the 4f system additionally benefits from a Fourier plane e.g. filtering.

With respect to relaying, I don't see a two lens system as any different from a single lens system at equivalent finite conjugates. They are reducible to the same thing.

Is there any major pitfalls to this understanding?

Hello,

I have a beam that has a different divergence in X (30deg) and Y (35deg) and I'm looking for a lens in ZEMAX OpticStudio (sequential mode) to help me correct said divergence into a circular shape but am having a hard time deciphering all the different structures available.

It seems, perhaps, the Polynomial lens is the one to go, since it can have disparate values for the X axis and the Y axis.

But is there a simpler lens format, with just a different X and Y radius, instead of all the different coefficients that the Polynomial lens has?

Thank you in advance for your help.

I've also tried seeing other subreddits explaining this, but I cannot clearly get an intuitive picture. Can someone explain it to me by also giving me an example? And, if a liquid appears to be yellow in colour, am I seeing its absorption or emission spectrum? Thank you!

Im unsure if this post fits here so I can take it down if need be.

So I was a fine arts major and officially just switched my major to optics (I took physics and optics in HS so its always been an interest as well).

Im not exactly strong mathematically but I can remember some other simple things visually, for example drawing simple ray diagrams of concave and convex lenses, through single ones or through a couple too. I can somewhat remember certain equations as well just because of how I write them down and solve them on paper.

Interestingly, I also hear that (at least in my area) a lot of people here who work in optical engineering are also artists themselves. I was also talking with someone recently who told me about how a specific company/place in our area had a large amount of employees who also played an instrument. It made sense to me if i recall the place correctly, because I had gone and taken a small tour and theres a lot of hands on engineering and building optical systems.

Now, like I said, I'm not the strongest mathematically, but Im willing to put in the work (i'm taking an algebra summer class too LOL). I think I want to work more towards optical engineering and building optical systems and whatnot if I stick to this path. Are there any good tips to strengthening my math abilities? And do you guys also similarly have other interests and hobbies that translate well to optics and what you do in this particular field? (And what might prep me and refreshen my brain after a year of fine arts...)

https://preview.redd.it/ofoq07rmplxc1.png?width=810&format=png&auto=webp&s=8051b60753777cecf5bc196ffbd93324c0eefb80

https://preview.redd.it/neynl4eqplxc1.png?width=614&format=png&auto=webp&s=4aeab434fe40fbeb16ccabcd3524099ee932a7e5

Sorry for the naive question - I have optical scheme that in the end provide astigmatism

But EFLX and EFLY are the same. As I understand, I can not add Biconic to correct this astigmatism
What else can decrease it?

Hello everyoneI have a question , what is the best way to reduce the divergence(13 and 57 degree) of a diode laser ?? 🤔

Hi I’m looking to make a waist level viewfinder for my film camera that’ll attach to the eye piece and allow me to focus without bringing the camera up to my eye. I have some motor function issues and can no longer hold the camera up to my face and, since I want to continue using the camera, I thought a waist level viewfinder would good idea. My question is what type of lens do I need to put up to the eyepiece in order to see everything in the viewfinder? I was going to use either a penta prism or rooftop prism to reflect the image. I also want to magnify the image coming out of the prism so it’s easier to see. Any recommendations for the types of lenses I could use would be greatly appreciated as I have not studied optics professionally. Thanks.

Hey optics friends!

I'm struggling to choose the right university for my Master's degree. I want to study in Europe and have been accepted to

-DTU (https://www.dtu.dk/english/education/graduate/msc-programmes/engineering-light),

-KIT (https://www.ksop.kit.edu/msc\_program.php)

-Jena (https://www.uni-jena.de/en/msc-photonics)

-KTH (https://www.kth.se/en/studies/master/engineering-physics/msc-engineering-physics-1.48226).

I'm not exactly sure what I want to do in the future, but I'm really interested in integrated photonics, laser physics, and nonlinear optics. I prefer a hands-on job, like engineering, rather than just theory. I'm also open to learning more about electronics. Ideally, I'd like to pursue a PhD and eventually work at a research facility as an engineer or scientist. Recently, I've become fascinated with the ELI Beamlines facility in Prague, and I wouldn't mind working in a similar place. :) I have a solid background in computer science and physics. I've also already taken some classes in optics and photonics, including basics of Zemax, optical simulations, instrumental optics, and the basics theory of quantum dots.

Jena offers a wide range of courses, which I like. However, I'm concerned because most of them seem to focus on theory without practical labs. DTU has well-structured classes with hands-on experience, but they don't offer many options for laser production, which interests me. They do have electronics courses, but I could only take one due to credit rules. I see credit restrictions at DTU as both an advantage (as it will prevent me from overworking, which I totally did during my BSc) and a drawback (as the number of classes I could take there will be strongly limited). Additionally, there is no lens/optical design course available at DTU. As for KIT and KTH, they both rank highly in international rankings, so perhaps they are indeed the best options?

I've been feeling really stressed lately because I don't know which university to choose. I don't want to repeat the same mistake I made with my Bachelor's degree. I tried to talk to some students from those universities, but I received very general answers that weren't enough for me to make up my mind.

Could anyone share their experiences to help me decide? Right now, I'm torn mostly between DTU and Jena.

Thanks guys!

Hey everyone,

So I am doing this project that is part of my thesis its basically an excitation (using laser light) and collection scheme project:

We shine laser light at a 0.5mm x 0.5mm x 0.3mm piece of diamond. this laser light is supposed to be collimated using a fiber coupler/ collimator to a lens (aspheric or otherwise in my case) to distribute the light across the diamonds square surface.

Light is emitted from that piece of diamond that collected using the same lens (which will collimate the light in this case) and then focused back into the fiber.

With the very little experience I have with fiber collimators - I notice that all files available online from whatever manufacturer are all sequential black box files (to not show the contents of the collimator at all). Which will force me to go to sequential simulation, even though the entirety of my work has been in Non sequential mode (minus the collimator part, which is what I am getting into right now). Is there any way to:

1. Convert these black box files to non sequential elements

2. Convert my non sequential source (cuboid) to a sequential element which Zemax explicitly says cannot happen. Since - for light coming from a non sequential source to continue moving in a non sequential manner, your entire system needs to be non sequential.

Any advice is very appreciated.

Does anyone know how I can define a slit in this situation? I designed two systems and defined 3 wavelengths exiting system 1 and entering system 2. How can I make them enter system 2 through one single entrance slit? I used Code V for the ray tracing in the picture. Anyone who can help please?

https://preview.redd.it/t8txmm0ysfxc1.png?width=666&format=png&auto=webp&s=f883cb6b5a69470821ab0972aa1f1d3d29a1b579