A technique is described for aligning an autocollimating test of an off-axis paraboloidal segment. A corner reflector (corner-cube retroreflector) is incorporated as an alignment aid to interferometrically align a paraboloidal segment to a spherical wavefront. This alignment task is typically quite challenging and time consuming because the interferograms obtained from a partially aligned autocollimating test cannot be easily interpreted for alignment correction. The normal alignment process requires iterative cycles of adjustment, realignment, and evaluation to achieve results. The use of a corner reflector significantly reduces the time required for the alignment of a n autocollimating test because it provides images and interferograms that can easily be interpreted for alignment correction. The wide dynamic range of this alignment technique makes it applicable to a variety of alignment tasks involving paraboloidal mirrors.

Date Published: 1 January 1992
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 1531, Advanced Optical Manufacturing and Testing II, (1 January 1992); doi: 10.1117/12.134855

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1531:
Advanced Optical Manufacturing and Testing II
Victor J. Doherty D.V.M., Editor(s)