Laboratories for Optical Fabrication and Design Laboratories for Optical Fabrication and Design Aspheric Testing and Finishing Laboratory Researchers in this laboratory develop both testing and finishing techniques for aspheric designs. The research into novel testing techniques includes the prototype development of a Shack-Hartmann Wavefront Sensor, a computer controlled stylus profilometer, and IR interferometric techniques.
Instrumentation also includes a diamond saw and a polish machine for sample preparation.
Faculty members and students are designing and fabricating silicate, phosphate, germanate, and tellurite glasses for laser and photonics applications, such as waveguide lasers, fiber amplifiers, and integrated optics. For more information contact Professor Nasser Peyghambarian. The Near Field Optics Laboratory contains special purpose testbeds for evaluating the effects of illuminating samples with light spots that are smaller than can be achieved with normal microscopes. Most of the research involves working with effective numerical apertures between 1.2 and 3.3. This laboratory is used for optical design projects such as lithography, conformal optics, null-correctors, and illumination optics.