Risley prisms scanners with different configurations: a multi-parametric analysis

Abstract

Scanners with rotational Risley prisms are one of the main options for achieving bi-dimensional (2D) scanning, including for biomedical applications such as Confocal Microscopy (CM) or Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). Different configurations of such devices exist, including with rotational, tilting or rotational plus tilting prisms. The analysis of the most used Risley prisms scanners, with rotational elements has been approached in different ways, to determine exactly or approximately their scan patterns. While we have previously developed such an exact analysis using mechanical design programs, in this paper a first multi-parametric analysis is carried out, for two of the possible configurations of scanners with two rotational prisms. A comparison is done between the exact and the approximate equations of the maximum deviations, and also between the two configurations considered. The minimum linear deviation produced by one of the scanner configuration is also deduced.