ANALYSIS OF ALIGNMENT AND SURFACE FIGURE ERRORS IN OPTICAL SYSTEMS.

Abstract

The effects of alignment and surface figure errors and their compensation with each other in optical systems are analyzed based on computer simulations with exact ray tracing data. These effects are included in the prediction of system performance and the testing of optics. Several simple systems are used as examples. In the prediction of system performance, a Ritchey-Chretian telescope and a Reflaxicon system are studied. A correct alignment can be found to compensate certain surface figure errors in the system. This will allow larger surface figure errors to be tolerated in the system. In the testing of optics, a method to separate the figure errors from the alignment error contributions is discussed and an off-axis test configuration, the Ritchey-Common test, is studied thoroughly. A figure design approach is suggested and compared with other approaches for reduction of the measured wavefront data in the Ritchey-Common test.