TY - JOUR
T1 - Alignment of sensor arrays in optical instruments using a geometric approach
AU - Sawyer, Travis W.
N1 - Funding Information:
National Science Foundation (NSF) (DGE-1143953). Acknowledgment. I would like to thank Rigaku Analytical Devices for providing the miniature echelle spectrometer used in the experiments. I also thank Dr. John Koshel (University of Arizona) for manuscript comments and Dr. Sarah Bohndiek (University of Cambridge) for technical discussion. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. The author is funded by the NSF and the Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Optical Society of America.
PY - 2018/2/1
Y1 - 2018/2/1
N2 - Alignment of sensor arrays in optical instruments is critical to maximize the instrument’s performance. While many commercial systems use standardized mounting threads for alignment, custom systems require specialized equipment and alignment procedures. These alignment procedures can be time-consuming, dependent on operator experience, and have low repeatability. Furthermore, each alignment solution must be considered on a case-by-case basis, leading to additional time and resource cost. Here I present a method to align a sensor array using geometric analysis. By imaging a grid pattern of dots, I show that it is possible to calculate the misalignment for a sensor in five degrees of freedom simultaneously. I first test the approach by simulating different cases of misalignment using Zemax before applying the method to experimentally acquired data of sensor misalignment for an echelle spectrograph. The results show that the algorithm effectively quantifies misalignment in five degrees of freedom for an F/5 imaging system, accurate to within ±0.87 deg in rotation and ±0.86 μm in translation. Furthermore, the results suggest that the method can also be applied to non-imaging systems with a small penalty to precision. This general approach can potentially improve the alignment of sensor arrays in custom instruments by offering an accurate, quantitative approach to calculating misalignment in five degrees of freedom simultaneously.
AB - Alignment of sensor arrays in optical instruments is critical to maximize the instrument’s performance. While many commercial systems use standardized mounting threads for alignment, custom systems require specialized equipment and alignment procedures. These alignment procedures can be time-consuming, dependent on operator experience, and have low repeatability. Furthermore, each alignment solution must be considered on a case-by-case basis, leading to additional time and resource cost. Here I present a method to align a sensor array using geometric analysis. By imaging a grid pattern of dots, I show that it is possible to calculate the misalignment for a sensor in five degrees of freedom simultaneously. I first test the approach by simulating different cases of misalignment using Zemax before applying the method to experimentally acquired data of sensor misalignment for an echelle spectrograph. The results show that the algorithm effectively quantifies misalignment in five degrees of freedom for an F/5 imaging system, accurate to within ±0.87 deg in rotation and ±0.86 μm in translation. Furthermore, the results suggest that the method can also be applied to non-imaging systems with a small penalty to precision. This general approach can potentially improve the alignment of sensor arrays in custom instruments by offering an accurate, quantitative approach to calculating misalignment in five degrees of freedom simultaneously.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85041280300&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85041280300&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1364/AO.57.000794
DO - 10.1364/AO.57.000794
M3 - Article
C2 - 29400760
AN - SCOPUS:85041280300
VL - 57
SP - 794
EP - 801
JO - Applied Optics
JF - Applied Optics
SN - 1559-128X
IS - 4
ER -