Computer-controllable wedged-plate optical variable attenuator

Abstract

A computer-controllable variable optical attenuator has been developed and tested that has a wide dynamic range, wide spectral range, and is suitable for applications with high peak and average power laser sources. The device is based on Fresnel transmission through two pairs of wedged plates. A 35-dB dynamic range, an insertion loss of 1%, a precision of better than 1% and beam offset and deflection of <0.5 mm and 0.5 mrad, respectively, are demonstrated.

Laser induced fluorescence in atmospheric pressure discharges

“…In our apparatus we started with low energy by excluding the dye amplifier, then working only with the oscillator and pre-amplifier. The energy is then reduced by means of a self-made attenuator, based on the design of [74]. It is composed of two counter-rotating couples of UVFS beam splitters, and performs a maximum attenuation of 34 dB.…”

High-energy diffractive variable attenuator

“…The attenuation adjustment knob rotates the λ/2 wave plate, which in turn rotates the polarization vector of the beam incident on the cube beamsplitter. Another λ/2 wave plate rotates the polarization vector of the transmitted beam to match that of the reflected beam Second type of attenuators is based on phenomenon of Fresnel reflection (see Fig.2a) 3 . A collimated beam incident on a wedged optical plate experiences Fresnel reflection, which varies with incident angle θ.…”

“…Minimal value d min is defined by manufacturing techniques of grating pattern making process and light wavelength d min >λ. Maximal value d max is defined by the attenuator transmission factor η=0). From the equation(3) follows, that at η=0, diameter d max is…”

Tilted parallel dielectric slab as a multilevel attenuator for incident p- or s-polarized light

“…Optical attenuators that reduce the intensity of a light beam by a predetermined amount are useful for precise spectrophotometry [1], calibrating filters [2], testing the linearity of photodetectors [3][4][5], and in applications that involve high-power lasers [6][7][8][9][10]. Existing designs include the rotating-sector attenuator [1], a three-polarizer system that consists of two fixed outer polarizers and a rotating middle polarizer [2], variable-gap optical-tunneling (frustrated-total-internal-refection) attenuator [6,7], wedged-plate attenuator [8], and reflective multimirror systems at oblique incidence [10].…”

“…Existing designs include the rotating-sector attenuator [1], a three-polarizer system that consists of two fixed outer polarizers and a rotating middle polarizer [2], variable-gap optical-tunneling (frustrated-total-internal-refection) attenuator [6,7], wedged-plate attenuator [8], and reflective multimirror systems at oblique incidence [10].…”