Patent ID: 8982355
Filing Date: 2015-03-17
Classification: G01J,G01N

Abstract:
1. A method for characterizing optical materials, comprising the steps of: providing a sample of optical material in a sample holder configured to grip a top and a bottom of the optical material; applying tension, compression, shear, or torsional stress to the optical material via two housing grip components located on opposite ends of the sample holder; generating a coherent laser light; filtering the coherent laser light in order to remove high order spatial components of laser light; collecting the filtered light and forming a parallel beam of light; applying a magnetic field to the optical material without contacting via a first electromagnet and a second electromagnet, the first electromagnet and second electromagnet both having holes through their axially aligned center lines; splitting the parallel beam of light into a first direction and into a second direction wherein the parallel beam of light travelling in the second direction travels toward the sample of optical material so that the parallel beam of light passes through the hole of the first electromagnet to pass through the optical material and then passes through the hole of the second electromagnet while the optical material is under mechanical stress of compression, tension, torsion, or shear forces; applying an infrared beam to the optical material to increase and set a temperature of the optical material to a point of interest via a thermal gun; applying an electric field to the optical material via two electrodes; reflecting the beam of light travelling in the first direction to produce a first reflected beam of light; reflecting the beam of light that passes through the optical material off a mirror separate from the optical material to produce a second reflected beam of light that travels back through the hole of the second electromagnet, then back through the optical material, and then back through the hole of the first electromagnet; combining the second reflected beam of light after it travels back though the optical material with the first reflected beam of light; sensing the light beam produced by combining the first and second reflected beams of light; and processing the sensed light beam to determine the optical characteristics and properties of the sample of optical material by extracting phase angle changes of one or multiple two-dimensional images of the sensed light beam by computing relative intensity changes after determining and comparing a cardinal order of local minima and maxima of intensities of two or more points of the one or multiple two dimensional images as one or more of the shear, torsion, tension, compression, acoustic field, magnetic field, electric field, and infrared beam for thermal effect are applied.