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Active alignment for lens manufacturing is the precise alignment of the optical axis of a lens with respect to an optical or mechanical reference axis (e.g. housing) including subsequent fixation by glue. In this contribution we will describe different approaches for active alignment and outline strengths and limitations of the different methods. Using the SmartAlign principle, highest quality cemented lenses can be manufactured without the need for high precision prealignment, while the reduction to a single alignment step greatly reduces the cycle time. The same strategies can also be applied to bonding processes. Lenses and lens groups can be aligned to both mechanical and optical axes to maximize the optical performance of a given assembly. In hybrid assemblies using both mechanical tolerances and active alignment, SmartAlign can be used to align critical lens elements anywhere inside the system for optimized total performance. Since all geometrical parameters are re-measured before each alignment, this process is especially suited for complex and time-consuming production processes where the stability of the reference axis would otherwise be critical. For highest performance, lenses can be actively aligned using up to five degrees of freedom. In this way, SmartAlign enables the production of ultra-precise mounted lenses with an alignment precision below 1 μm.
In this contribution, we will present a system for the automated alignment of optical surfaces for the high-throughput manufacturing of cemented doublets (and triplets) with optimized imaging performance. First of all, different concepts for the alignment of doublets etc. are discussed. Standard methods for cementing evaluate mechanical features, such as the outer barrel of one element as reference axis. Using this procedure the optical performance of the assembly that can be achieved is limited by imperfections in the collinearity of the element’s barrel axis and its optical axis. Instead, using the optical axis of the bottom element as target axis opens up perspectives for the production of multiplets with perfect symmetric imaging performance. For this concept, all three center of curvature positions of the optical surfaces are measured. Then, the top surface is aligned to the bottom element's optical axis using high-precision actuators.
In order to increase the throughput of this procedure, the system is equipped with a novel measurement head that acquires autocollimation images of all three surfaces of a doublet at the same time. Thus, the positions of all surfaces are measured simultaneously during just a single rotation, avoiding both additional rotations and focus movements.
Using this approach, cycle times can significantly be reduced from an average of 1 min to less than 10 seconds (w/o curing time). The system is reconfigurable in order to support a wide range of sample designs and enables cementing of high quality optics with centering errors below 2 μm.
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