Related papers: Advanced Optics with Laser Pointer and Metersticks
Holographic diffusers have long been recognized as versatile components with a broad number of applications. In this work we discuss holographic diffusers for projection of laser light from a Liquid Crystal Display(LCD) onto a holographic…
Optical alignment and testing of the Integrated Science Instrument Module of the James Webb Space Telescope is underway. We describe the Optical Telescope Element Simulator used to feed the science instruments with point images of precisely…
Many spectacular polarimetric images have been obtained in recent years with adaptive optics (AO) instruments at large telescopes because they profit significantly from the high spatial resolution. This paper summarizes some basic…
The distant projection of high peak and average power laser beams in the atmosphere is a longstanding goal with a wide range of applications. Our early proof-of-principle experiments [Phys. Rev. X 4, 011027 (2014)] presented one solution to…
Wavefront aberrations are identified as a major limitation in quantum sensors. They are today the main contribution in the uncertainty budget of best cold atom interferometers based on two-photon laser beam splitters, and constitute an…
Equipped with a suitable optical relay system, telescopes employing low-cost fixed primary mirrors could point and track while delivering high-quality images to a fixed location. Such an optical tracking system would enable liquid-mirror…
We have developed and tested a novel method, based on LIDAR, of measuring the height and profile of the mesospheric sodium layer using a continuous wave laser. It is more efficient than classical LIDAR as the laser is on for 50% of the…
A gas of ultracold atoms probed with laser light is a nearly-ideal experimental realization of a medium of resonant point-like scatterers, a key problem from condensed matter to biology or photonics. Yet, several recent experiments have…
In astronomy and microscopy, distortions in the wavefront affect the dynamic range of a high contrast imaging system. These aberrations are either imposed by a turbulent medium such as the atmosphere, by static or thermal aberrations in the…
In both light optics and electron optics, the amplitude of a wave scattered by an object is an observable that is usually recorded in the form of an intensity distribution in a real space image or a diffraction image. In contrast, retrieval…
We study the polarization properties of elliptical femtosecond-laser-written waveguides arrays. A new analytical model is presented to explain the asymmetry of the spatial transverse profiles of linearly polarized modes in these waveguides.…
We experimentally characterize the positions of the diffraction maxima of a phase grating on a screen, for laser light at oblique incidence (so-called off-plane diffraction or conical diffraction). We discuss the general case of off-plane…
We discuss a novel application of matter wave interferometry to characterize the scalar optical polarizability of molecules at 532 nm. The interferometer presented here consists of two material absorptive gratings and one central optical…
A new type of light waveguide using linearly aligned pinholes is presented. Results of basic experiments are compared with theoretical estimates calculated using continuous model. Since this waveguide utilizes no transparent material, it…
Identifying chemical compounds is essential in several areas of science and engineering. Laser-based techniques are promising for autonomous compound detection because the optical response of materials encodes enough electronic and…
We have used a precision calibrated photodiode as the fundamental metrology reference in order to determine the relative throughput of the PanSTARRS telescope and the Gigapixel imager, from 400 nm to 1050 nm. Our technique uses a tunable…
A precise ground based telescope system was developed for laser communication experiments with the geostationary satellite ARTEMIS of ESA. Precise tracking of the satellite was realized by using time resolved coordinates of the satellite.…
Since the pioneering work of Arthur Ashkin, optical tweezers have become an indispensable tool for contactless manipulation of micro- and nanoparticles. Nowadays optical tweezers are employed in a myriad of applications demonstrating the…
This paper is based on the opening lecture given at the 2017 edition of the Evry Schatzman school on high-angular resolution imaging of stars and their direct environment. Two relevant observing techniques: long baseline interferometry and…
Robust laser delivery and stabilization are key components in atom-based quantum technologies, such as quantum computing. Moving these technologies towards product-like deployment requires scalable, compact, cost-effective, and upgradable…