This project is providing specialized optical analysis equipment for use by advanced optics students at the University of Rochester Institute of Optics.Optical fabrication technology relies upon the unique skills of master opticians for the production of specialized optics. Small, ultra-thin crystal windows, glass prisms with sharp edges, aspheric germanium lenses or optically-contacted elements are made to sub-micron tolerances by these craftsmen, who traditionally have learned their techniques in extensive apprentice programs at trade schools in Eastern Europe.The hands-on fundamentals of optical fabrication are being passed on to undergraduates by two master opticians at the University of Rochester in a laboratory course initiated by the principal investigator three years ago. Projects take students through glass melting, casting, annealing, and into hand fabrication of precision lenses, flats, and prisms. Students and their employers find this course to be valuable, because it teaches just how costly it can be to improperly tolerance optical elements when designing products.With the non-contacting surface profiler and phase- shifting interferometer acquired through this project, students are being trained to use modern instrumentation for studying fabrication issues ranging from sub-surface damage to optical inhomogeneity created by stirring of the glass melt. This new instrumentation is comparable to that currently found in most industrial laboratories and quality-assurance departments.NSF grant funds are being matched with funds from non-federal sources.
