Optics

A Cassegrain telescope is a type of telescope that uses two reflective mirrors to form an image, like the Hubble Space Telescope. Our project was to assemble and test a current table-top Cassegrain telescope and based on those findings, design, manufacture, simulate and test our newly designed telescope.

Myopia, the condition of the elongation of the eye, is an increasingly common visual condition that has the potential to cause a great deal of damage to the eye. While the development and effects of myopia have been studied to a great extent, the exact causes and effects of the condition on people have yet to be fully documented due to different reactions in subjects and variance across the visual systems of different people. As technology advances more detailed study into the exact mechanisms of how the eye accommodates is unlocked. This work details the design and assembly of an optical coherence tomography system integrated with a visual simulator that will be able to achieve higher resolution images (<2μm) than previous systems during active accommodation, which will unlock further study into how the choroid and crystalline lens adjust to the myopic eye.

Our project concentrates on using PlanOpSim’s optimization algorithm software to enhance the efficiency and functionality of nanostructured optical devices. Unlike traditional engineering methods, in which a structure is designed and then tested, inverse design begins with a target optical response and uses computational methods to determine the optimal nanostructure to achieve that function. For our first objective, we designed a metasurface capable of displaying two distinct holographic images depending on whether the incident light is in the TE or TM polarization state. For the second, we aimed to design a metasurface that produces specific colors by controlling the interaction of light with carefully engineered nanostructures.

We created model retinas for fundus imaging, which simulate several parts of the retina.

This work investigates material birefringence as a means to determine microplastic identity in samples.

CYL Team Customer Points of Contact: Chris Toomey, Clayton Summers, Dan Denison, and Scott Rudder Faculty Advisors Abstract There is a growing demand for non-spherical optics in industry. The manufacturing…

Antony Georgiadis Mentors Professor James Fienup and Joseph Tang Abstract Wavefront sensing via phase retrieval algorithms are critical to enabling the use of large aperture systems on the ground and…

This senior design-driven project creates accurate Zemax ray-tracing models of the human eye to evaluate diffractive-refractive hybrid contact lenses for correcting wavefront error and chromatic aberration. The eventual goal is to apply the technology to school-aged children to prevent the progression of myopia development.

Design an interchangeable, fixed offset, fixed gear-ratio eccentric tool spindle for gravity-loaded optical polishing procedures.

Investigating the influence of heat sources on the Laboratory for Laser Energetics' Omega-60 transport mirror structure.