Mounting of Optical Components

Level: Introductory Length: 8 hours Format: Online Intended Audience: Intended for engineers (mechanical, optical, electrical, and systems), scientists, technicians, and managers who are developing, specifying, or purchasing optical, electro-optical, infrared, or laser systems. The material is at an introductory level, but a basic familiarity with optomechanical engineering principles is useful. Description: This course introduces the optomechanical engineering principles for the mounting of optical components such as lenses, mirrors, windows, prisms, and filters. Oriented towards practicing engineers and managers, case studies are used to show how mount design is driven by a combination of environmental, performance, and cost requirements. Standard industry practices and common mounting techniques are reviewed, including: • Mounting of lenses into barrels using adhesives or retaining rings • Mounting of prisms and small mirrors using adhesives or clamps • Mounting of assemblies using flexures • Mounting and sealing of windows Without using finite-element analysis (FEA), first-order engineering estimates are used to predict the performance of various mount types. Learning Outcomes: This course will enable you to: - isolate the effects of the environment on optics - identify critical aspects of the optic-to-mount interface - compare alternate low-strain mounting techniques for common types of elements - estimate survivability for vibration and thermal loading - design mounts that balance performance, survivability, and cost - estimate optomechanical tolerances for optical assemblies using standard designs Instructor(s): Keith Kasunic has more than 30 years of experience developing optical, electro-optical, infrared, and laser systems. He holds a Ph.D. in Optical Sciences from the University of Arizona, an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT. He has worked for or been a consultant to a number of organizations, including Lockheed Martin, Ball Aerospace, Sandia National Labs, and Nortel Networks. He is currently the Technical Director of Optical Systems Group, LLC. He is also the author of three textbooks [Optical Systems Engineering (McGraw-Hill, 2011), Optomechanical Systems Engineering (John Wiley, 2015), and Laser Systems Engineering (SPIE Press, 2016)], an Adjunct Prof. at Univ. of North Carolina – Charlotte, an Affiliate Instructor with Georgia Tech’s SENSIAC, and an Instructor for the Optical Engineering Certificate Program at Univ. of California – Irvine. SPIE online courses are on-demand and self-paced, with access for one year. For more information visit: spie.org/education/online-courses