Optical Fabrication Laboratory: Introductory Training for Optical Engineering Students

Students in the BS and MS programs at The Institute of Optics may elect to take a one-semester laboratory course, taught by a master optician, which introduces them to optical glasses and the classical techniques for fabricating optical components. Over the past few years, several projects and new pieces of testing equipment have been added to the laboratory in order to expose optical engineering students to modern fabrication issues not previously covered. Students now investigate subjects such as glass melting and forming, the evolution of stress-birefringence during annealing, the relationship between a glass type's optical properties and its ease of fabrication, the estimation and measurement of subsurface damage, and new instruments for determining the figure and smoothness of finished parts. This paper describes some of the projects in the laboratory and gives examples of results generated by the students during the 12 three-hour laboratory sessions held weekly throughout the semester.