Optical Measurement and Testing Systems for Undergraduate Optics Curriculum

使用光学技术测试光学元件和进行物理测量是应用光学专业的重要课题。这些学科本质上是多学科的。近年来，电光技术、计算机和电子技术的进步使光学测量和测试工具更加可靠、准确和可重复。到目前为止，学生们接触的是过时的测试和测量工具和分析。他们对利用摄影技术获得的图像进行了定性测量。由于结果的高度推测性，这种预测的影响有限。很多时候，这个缺点增加了老师和学生的挫败感，因为测量和测试技术的潜在用途被巨大的误差和很少的可重复性所掩盖。在光学课程中，学生不仅应该有机会发展基本技能，而且应该有机会使用最现代的硬件和分析工具来获得专业知识。此外，在实验中加入计算机数据采集系统，使学生有更多时间专注于概念和方法。因此，部门的测量和测试能力正在得到加强。为此目的，还引入了新的实验室实验。本项目使用的设备用于光学计量课程的新实验室提供自动化和定量分析（也将在其他课程中使用），开发在许多光纤工业和通信中发挥关键作用的新实验室实验，用更高精度和控制的工具升级现有的一些实验室，使学生对数据和计算有更好的感觉。并对部分实验数据采集与分析的集成进行了改进。

Testing optical components and making physical measurements using optical techniques are important topics in an applied-optics program. These subjects are multidisciplinary in nature. In recent years, advancements in electro-optic technology, computers, and electronics have made optical measurement and testing tools more reliable, accurate, and repeatable. Until the present, students had been exposed to outdated testing and measurement tools and analysis. They made qualitative measurement on the images obtained using photographic techniques. Such predictions have limited impact because of the highly speculative nature of the results. Many times this shortcoming added to the frustration of both the teacher and students because the potential use of the measurement and testing technique had been obscured by large error and very little repeatability. Students in the optics course should be provided with the opportunity not only to develop the basic skills but also to acquire expertise using the most modern hardware and analytical tools. In addition, the incorporation of computer data acquisition systems in the experiments leaves more time for the students to concentrate on concept and methodology. For this reason, the measurement and testing capability of the department is being strengthened. To this end, new laboratory experiments are also being introduced. The equipment used in this project is being used to provide automated as well as quantitative analysis for the new laboratories in an optical metrology course (which will find its use in other courses as well), develop new laboratory experiments that play a pivotal role in the many fiber optics industries and communication, upgrade some present laboratories with tools of higher precision and control so that the student gets a better feeling for the data and the calculation, and improve the integration of data acquisition and analysis for some experiments.