Characterization of an alignment procedure using an air bearing and off-the-shelf optics

摘要

We characterize the precision of five approaches used to align a series of targets over a distance of two meters. For many applications, an alignment telescope provides the necessary precision for positioning targets. However, for systems with tight tolerances, we must have a measure of the uncertainties in the alignment telescope to determine if it can truly meet the system requirements. We develop a procedure to measure the precision of each alignment approach and compare their performances. We use a telescope constructed from off-the-shelf optics and mechanics to determine if we can obtain alignment precision comparable to an alignment telescope of superior optical quality.