Spherical Mirror Research Articles

Shaping a gallium alloy and an ionic liquid into spherical mirrors for future liquid-based telescopes—experimental setup and demonstration in parabolic flights

Shaping a gallium alloy and an ionic liquid into spherical mirrors for future liquid-based telescopes—experimental setup and demonstration in parabolic flights

Hybrid Refractive and Diffractive Testing Method for Free-Form Convex Mirror in High-Resolution Remote-Sensing Cameras

The development of high-resolution and large field of view remote-sensing cameras is inextricably linked to the application of free-form mirrors. The free-form mirror offers higher design of freedom and is more effective at correcting aberrations in optical systems. The surface shape error of a free-form mirror directly affects the imaging quality of remote-sensing cameras. Consequently, a high-precision free-form mirror detection method is of paramount importance. For the convex free-form surface mirror with a large aperture, a hybrid refractive and diffractive testing method combining computer-generated holography (CGH) and spherical mirrors for high-precision null test is proposed in this paper. When comparing the effect of error and the detection sensitivity of different designs, the results showed that the influence of the system error is reduced by about 42% and the sensitivity is increased by more than 2.6 times. The proposed method can achieve higher testing accuracy and represents an effective and feasible approach for the surface shape detection method.

Calculating the focal length of a concave mirror computerically using mathematical algorithms using MATLAB

This study proposes the use of digital image processing technology to determine the focal lengths of simple concave mirror , as well as spherical mirrors. This method is simpler, faster to implement, and more accurate in calculating the focal length by taking several pictures at different distances for the image formed by the lens, then calculating the least point spread function for these pictures at that distance to determine the best image. In this work Image No. (7) represents the image that carries the least (psf) that was determined by algorithms and special mathematical equations through the (Matlab) program, then the focal length is calculated by employing algorithms and mathematical equations specific to calculating the focal length. A comparison was made with the traditional method by taking measurements of a group of students at the Optics laboratory of University of Wasit, College of Science (which depends on view to choose the best image). This method has proven to be superior in measuring the focal length of lenses. A statistical analysis was conducted for these measurements for the group of students and it was found that there was differences measurements with an error rate, which confirms the feasibility of this method in terms of measurement accuracy and time saving. Experimental results have confirmed this.

Optical performance of a solar dish concentrator formed by the same size mirror located on parabolic frame

Solar dish concentrator with low cost and meeting the flux distribution is always pursued for the efficient utilization of concentrated solar energy. This paper investigates the optical performance of a solar dish concentrator formed by using a number of identical square mirror units arranged on a parabolic surface frame. The manufacturing of the mirror surface of this concentrator requires only one kind of mold, which has the significant advantage of low-cost manufacturing. Three common types of mirror units including the parabolic mirror (focal length fm), spherical mirror (radius Rm) and plane mirror are considered. The influence of key geometric parameters including the mirror width d (250–750 mm) and dimensionless parameters such as f1/D, fm/f1 and Rm/f1 (f1 is the focal length of parabolic frame) on its optical performance indexes such as the focused spot size (i.e., intercept width w), average local concentrator ratio (LCR), peak LCR and flux uniformity is analyzed using ray-tracing method, and the correctness of optical model and concentrator optical function is verified by outdoor concentrating experiments. The results show that the concentrator composed of parabolic or spherical mirrors can easily obtain a small circular focusing spot with high LCR and the intercept width can be easily controlled within 200 mm, the peak LCR can reach 34457 (average LCR is 12898), and average LCR reaches 14794 (peak LCR is 29497) at the smallest spot with w = 38.4 mm, which can be a low-cost alternative to parabolic dish concentrator. The concentrator with plane mirrors are easier to obtain square focusing spots with excellent flux uniformity, w can be controlled from 180 to 380 mm and uniform LCR is between 100 and 1400, which is very suitable for concentrating photovoltaic field.

Single-frame fringe pattern analysis with synchronous phase-shifting based on polarization interferometry phase measuring deflectometry (PIPMD)

In the domain of phase measuring deflectometry (or fringe projection profilometry), utilizing only a single-frame fringe pattern to achieve high-precision three-dimensional reconstruction has emerged as a focal point of ongoing research. To achieve four-step phase-shifting demodulation from a single-frame fringe pattern, this paper proposes a Polarization Interferometry Phase Measuring Deflectometry (PIPMD). This method primarily relies on a Michelson polarization interferometry structure to produce projected polarization interference fringes, which are then captured by a polarization camera as modulated single-frame deformed fringe patterns. These single-frame fringe patterns enable pixelated four-step phase shifting with adjacent 2 × 2 pixel units. To validate the proposed method, a series of experiments has been conducted, including surface shape detection of a concave spherical mirror and an off-axis parabolic mirror, as well as dynamic deformation measurements of a deformable mirror. All experimental results consistently indicate that the polarization interference-based fringe projection technique can achieve synchronized phase-shifting demodulation of single-frame fringe patterns, thereby facilitating high-precision reconstruction of the fringe patterns captured in a single frame. This synchronous phase-shifting technique can overcome the influence of air disturbances in traditional four-step phase-shifting methods, thereby enhancing the accuracy of phase demodulation. Additionally, this polarization interference-based Phase Measuring Deflectometry exhibits promising application prospects in dynamic measurements.

Testing of spherical mirrors with extremely large R numbers using a quasi-autocollimation method.

Spherical mirrors with large R numbers have extreme advantages in optical systems with large apertures and long focus lengths for improving imaging resolution and field of view. Their manufacturing and testing accuracy directly affects the final wavefront aberration of the systems. However, due to the influence of airflow disturbance in the long optical path, testing large R number spherical mirrors with high precision is difficult for the direct testing method. In this paper, a quasi-autocollimation test (QACT) method is proposed based on the consistency and reverse compensation between sphere and paraboloid with large R numbers. In QACT, the length of the testing path is reduced to half, and the test sensitivity of the surface figure error is doubled. According to the Kolmogorov turbulence theory, the suppressed degree of QACT to airflow disturbance is quantitatively evaluated, and QACT can suppress the random error in test to 35%. A comparative experiment between direct test and QACT method is carried out on a ∅100 spherical mirror with 8-meter radius of curvature. Airflow disturbance in the testing environment is calculated by mathematical fitting and the repeated accuracy is improved from 4 nm to 1.4 nm in a single test using the QACT method, which is consistent with theoretical analysis. The research results will provide a new strategy for ultra-precision and efficiency tests of large R number spherical mirrors.

Directional detection of meV dark photons with Dandelion

This paper presents Dandelion, a new dish antenna experiment searching for dark photons (DPs) with masses around the meV that will start acquiring in 2024. A spherical mirror acts as a conversion surface between DPs and standard photons that converge to a matrix of 418 Kinetic Inductance Detectors cooled down to 150 mK. A tilt of the mirror at 1 Hz moves the expected signal over the pixels thus enabling a continuous background reference measurement. The expected signal has two modulations: a spatial modulation providing a directional signature for the unambiguous discovery of a DP, and an intensity modulation allowing the determination of the polarization of the DP. For masses near the meV, the inflationary production of longitudinal and transverse DPs are mutually excluded, thus the polarization determination by Dandelion could shed a new light on the inflation phase of the early universe. A first Dandelion prototype operating for 30 days would improve by more than one order of magnitude the current exclusion limits on DPs at the meV mass scale and would probe this region with an unprecedented discovery potential based on directional detection.

Imaging of human parafoveal area with large field of view in adaptive optics line scanning ophthalmoscope

The parafoveal area, with its high concentration of photoreceptors and fine retinal capillaries, is crucial for central vision and often exhibits early signs of pathological changes. The current adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscope (AOSLO) provides an excellent tool to acquire accurate and detailed information about the parafoveal area with cellular resolution. However, limited by the scanning speed of two-dimensional scanning, the field of view (FOV) in the AOSLO system was usually less than or equal to 2∘, and the stitching for the parafoveal area required dozens of images, which was time-consuming and laborious. Unfortunately, almost half of patients are unable to obtain stitched images because of their poor fixation. To solve this problem, we integrate AO technology with the line-scan imaging method to build an adaptive optics line scanning ophthalmoscope (AOLSO) system with a larger FOV. In the AOLSO, afocal spherical mirrors in pairs are nonplanar arranged and the distance and angle between optical elements are optimized to minimize the aberrations, two cylinder lenses are orthogonally placed before the imaging sensor to stretch the point spread function (PSF) for sufficiently digitizing light energy. Captured human retinal images show the whole parafoveal area with [Formula: see text] FOV, 60[Formula: see text]Hz frame rate and cellular resolutions. Take advantage of the 5∘ FOV of the AOLSO, only 9 frames of the retina are captured with several minutes to stitch a montage image with an FOV of [Formula: see text], in which photoreceptor counting is performed within approximately 5∘ eccentricity. The AOLSO system not only provides cellular resolution but also has the capability to capture the parafoveal region in a single frame, which offers great potential for noninvasive studying of the parafoveal area.

Double light source Ronchi Tester for detection of ruling rotations

Abstract In this work, a modified Ronchi tester with a double light source has been implemented for evaluating and minimizing the rotation angle of the Ronchi ruling. The ruling rotations produced by positioning errors can become very small and could be going unnoticed (0.1°), however we have demonstrated that for these angle sizes the aberrations in the wavefront can not be completely neglicted. Accordingly with a rotatory mechanical device for correctioning the Ronchi ruling has been also added with this proposals. With our aim, in spite of non-straight shape that the ronchigrams can present in the patterns, the process of the ruling rotation degree measuring has hurled some experimental results when three concave mirrors: a concave spherical mirror, a concave parabolic mirror (the primary mirror of a Newtonian telescope) and a spherical concave mirror (the primary mirror of a Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope) have been tested.

Optical system of an aplanatic telescope with a spherical primary mirror

Optical system of an aplanatic telescope with a spherical primary mirror

Wearing a Surgical Vest With a Sterile Surgical Helmet System Decreases Contamination of the Surgical Field

BackgroundSterile surgical helmet systems are frequently utilized in total knee arthroplasty procedures to protect the surgeon while maintaining a comfortable working environment. However, common helmet systems pressurize the space between the surgical gown and the surgeon’s skin. In gowns with a back seam, this may allow contaminated skin particles to escape into the surgical field. By measuring bacterial colony-forming units (CFUs), this study sought to determine if occlusion of the open back seam reduced the risk of potential contamination. MethodsFirst, qualitative analysis depicting airflow variations between gown configurations was performed using the Schlieren Spherical Mirror imaging system. Each gown configuration consisted of a sterile surgical helmet and one of 3 gown configurations: a standard gown with rear-tied closure, a standard gown with a surgical vest, and a zippered Toga-style gown. Next, a surgeon then performed simulated surgical activities for 60 minutes within a 1.4 m3 isolation chamber with work surfaces and controllable filtered air exchanges. During each procedure, contaminated particles were collected on sets of agar settle plates positioned directly behind the surgeon. Upon completion, the agar plates were incubated in a biolab, and the number of bacterial and fungal CFUs was counted. The experimental procedure was repeated 12 times for each gown configuration, with sterilization of the chamber between runs. Contamination rates were expressed as CFUs/m2/h. ResultsThe mean contamination rate measured with the standard gown was 331.7 ± 52.0 CFU/m2/h. After the addition of a surgical vest, this rate decreased by 45% to 182.2 ± 30.8 CFU/m2/h (P = .02). Similarly, with the Toga-style gown, contamination rates dropped by 49% to 170.5 ± 41.9 CFU/m2/h (P = .01). ConclusionsWhen used in conjunction with surgical helmet systems, conventional surgical gowns do not prevent potential contamination of the surgical field. We recommend that staff within the surgical field cover the back seam of standard gowns with a vest or don a zippered Toga-style gown.

Monitoring Welding Torch Position and Posture Using Reversed Electrode Images – Part I: Establishment of the REI-TPA Model

Sensing, modeling, and control are the key technologies of intelligent welding manufacturing. The position and attitude of the welding torch relative to the weld seam affects the quality of the produced weld directly, which is the basis of control and offline programming of the welding robot. Based on the existing research of reversed electrode image (REI) on monitoring of weld pool surface and penetration state, this work focused on the application of REI on monitoring of welding torch position and attitude (TPA). In this paper, a REI-TPA model was established to quantitively relate REI to TPA by considering the surface of the weld pool as a spherical mirror. With the REI-TPA model, the offset distance and deflection angle of the welding torch relative to the correct position and attitude can be calculated. The calculation is based on the measurement of the relative distance between the tip of REI and the electrode in a passive visual image of the weld pool, arc length, and weld pool geometry. This model can be applied to the real-time control of TPA, which is a supplement to the application of welding passive visual image and an extension to multi-information acquisition and processing methods in the robotic welding process.

Surface shape error modeling in optical machining and tolerance analysis of mosaic aperture telescopes

In the simulation and tolerance analysis of mirror-based optical systems, the magnitude distribution of the surface shape error of each mirror must be established under certain values. Thus, in this study, several large-diameter meter-scale spherical mirrors were statistically processed, and a surface shape error model was constructed to control the RMS, PV, and PV/RMS of the surface shape error in Monte Carlo experiments. The findings show an improved system qualification probability from 69.2% to 99.4%. The proposed method considers the maximum evaluation of the sub-wavefront that eliminates the final co-phase adjustment for individual segments.

The performance of generalised Davies–Cotton optical systems with infinitesimal mirror facets

This paper presents Taylor expansions for the imaging and timing characteristics of spherical optical systems with infinitesimal mirror facets, sometimes referred to as “modified Davies–Cotton” telescopes. Such a system comprises a discontinuous spherical mirror surface whose curvature radius is different from its focal length, and whose mirrors are aligned to suppress spherical aberration. Configurations that range between two “optima” are, one of which minimises tangential comatic aberration and the other that minimises timing dispersion.

Two-step retrace error calibration removing tilt ambiguity in coherence scanning interferometry.

In interferometry measurement, the retrace error often limits its high-precision metrology applications. Retrace error calibration with tilted flats can give a relation between the retrace error and the introduced tilt angles, but there is still an ambiguity between the introduced tilt angles and the tilt terms in the created retrace error. We propose a novel, to the best of our knowledge, two-step calibration method to resolve this tilt ambiguity. It involves additional measurements of spherical mirror(s) with known curvature(s). The experiment shows that the curvature deviation due to the tilt ambiguity can be significantly reduced after applying the proposed method.

Free-space combiner based on holographic mirrors for head-mounted displays.

The paper presents an augmented reality display based on the free-space combiner, consisting of two holographic mirrors: flat and spherical. A feature of such a system is a high-reflection coefficient of mirrors up to 90% for one wavelength and a high transmittance to the lumen up to 67% throughout the rest of the visible spectrum, unlike similar solutions implementing principles of polarization or dichroic beam splitting. The recording scheme and calculation of a separate flat holographic mirror and spherical holographic mirror are described. The proposed augmented reality display can provide multifocality, i.e.,reproduction of virtual images at several distances, which demonstrates a certain perspective of this implementation in terms of compensation for the vergence accommodation conflict.

Comparison of the Optical Efficiency of Two Designs of the Maksutov–Cassegrain Telescope

The research aims to develop the best possible design for the widely used Cassegrain telescope. The system consists of two models of different designs: (a) the telescope consists of a Maksutov lens, a spherical primary mirror, and a secondary mirror attached to the lens; (b) it consists of a Maksutov lens and a spherical primary mirror, plus a non-lens attached secondary mirror located between the lens and the primary mirror. The image was evaluated and analyzed using the analysis tools in Zemax software. The results of the two designs showed that the telescope whose secondary mirrors are not adjacent to the Maksutov lens produces high quality image that is almost free from aberration, and then comes the telescope whose secondary mirrors are adjacent to the Maksutov lens in terms of image quality. In the first design, the tangential and sagittal axes in the MTF function of the remaining angles (0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5) contain two curves, which show how the loss of symmetry has changed the value of the function for the two axes. In the second design, the sagittal and tangential axes are identical in the angles of incidence (0, 0.1, and 0.2), and the transverse and sagittal axes of the remaining angles (0.3, 0.4, and 0.5) contain two curves. In PSF for the first design, there are several pretty high peaks on the surface of the image at the angle of incidence (0, 0.1). Since the shape is regular, the point spread function indicates that there isn't an aberration, but in terms of the angles (0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5), we observe a gradual loss in intensity and the appearance of elevations on both sides of the picture. In the second design, at the angles (0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3), we observe in Figure 5 that there are several high peaks free from aberration.

Optofluidic flow cytometer with in-plane spherical mirror for signals enhancement

Statistical analysis of properties of single microparticles, such as cells, bacteria or plastic slivers, has attracted increasing interest in recent years. In this field flow cytometry is considered the gold standard technique, but commercially available instruments are bulky, expensive, and not suitable for use in Point-of-Care (PoC) testing. Microfluidic flow cytometers, on the other hand, are small, cheap and can be used for on-site analysis. However, in order to detect small particles, they require complex geometries and the aid of external optical components. To overcome these limitations here we present an opto-fluidic flow cytometer with an integrated 3D in-plane spherical mirror for enhanced optical signal collection. As result the signal-to-noise ratio is increased by a factor of 6, enabling the detection of particle sizes down to 1.5μm. The proposed optofluidic detection scheme allows the simultaneous collection of particles fluorescence and scattering - using a single optical fiber - which is crucial to easily distinguish particle populations with different optical properties. The devices have been fully characterized using fluorescent polystyrene beads of different sizes. As a proof of concept for potential real-world applications, signals from fluorescent HEK cells and Escherichia coli bacteria were analyzed.

The Effects of Table Tennis, Basketball, and Athletics on the Prevention and Control of Myopia in Elementary School Students

Background and Aim: The visual acuity of children and adolescents is declining, which seriously affects the physical health of children and adolescents with the continuous integration and development of sports and health fields, many studies have shown that sports are closely related to the eye health of children and adolescents. Therefore, this study conducts table tennis, basketball, and athletics research on the prevention and control of myopia in elementary school students, and compares the effects. Materials and Methods: This study conducted a 24-week exercise experiment intervention on children with low vision, selected 80 experimental samples that meet the requirements of the experimental research, and divided the 80 students into 4 groups on average using random grouping, set up 1 control group and 3 experimental groups. One-way repeated measures analysis of variance was performed on the data of the three experimental groups and control groups. Results: The facility of accommodation and relative accommodation ability of the three experimental groups were significantly improved, while those of the control group were significantly decreased, indicating that the experimental intervention of table tennis, basketball, and athletics can improve the facility of accommodation and relative accommodation functions of the eyes. From the results of the change of the equivalent spherical mirror degree, it can be shown that the table tennis group has the best control effect, followed by basketball, and the third is athletics. Conclusions: (1) Professionally designed table tennis, basketball, and athletics have a preventive effect on myopia diopter, and can control and slow down the progression of myopia to a certain extent. (2) Designing exercise programs related to the principles of eye movement is more effective in preventing and controlling elementary school students’ myopia than traditional physical education courses. And (3) The intervention methods of table tennis, basketball, and athletics in this study to prevent myopia can be promoted and used in physical education classes in elementary and secondary schools.

Optofluidic Flow Cytometer with In-Plane Spherical Mirror for Signal Enhancement.

Statistical analysis of the properties of single microparticles, such as cells, bacteria or plastic slivers, has attracted increasing interest in recent years. In this regard, field flow cytometry is considered the gold standard technique, but commercially available instruments are bulky, expensive, and not suitable for use in point-of-care (PoC) testing. Microfluidic flow cytometers, on the other hand, are small, cheap and can be used for on-site analyses. However, in order to detect small particles, they require complex geometries and the aid of external optical components. To overcome these limitations, here, we present an opto-fluidic flow cytometer with an integrated 3D in-plane spherical mirror for enhanced optical signal collection. As a result, the signal-to-noise ratio is increased by a factor of six, enabling the detection of particle sizes down to 1.5 µm. The proposed optofluidic detection scheme enables the simultaneous collection of particle fluorescence and scattering using a single optical fiber, which is crucial to easily distinguishing particle populations with different optical properties. The devices have been fully characterized using fluorescent polystyrene beads of different sizes. As a proof of concept for potential real-world applications, signals from fluorescent HEK cells and Escherichia coli bacteria were analyzed.