Ruggedized optomechanical mounts to achieve a low-cost interferometer

When assembling an interferometer, key optical components must be aligned accurately. The careful alignment of each lens or optical element in the interferometer is often tedious and sometimes a difficult task that lasts many hours. This paper presents an optomechanical assembly method which is based on passively aligned design features, proposed to improve alignment accuracy while maintaining operational stability and alignment under a wide range of temperatures and vibrations. The positioning accuracy is reached by combining a patented lens autocentering technology (also called QuickCTR-edge) with a reference ball tool. The optical components of the interferometer are all mounted with high stability standard mounts that are part of the QuickPOZ library. Using this method to assemble the interferometer simplifies the alignment of the optical components and significantly reduces the assembly time. This optomechanical design approach was used to combine precise optical positioning, high repeatability capabilities, and high robustness to environmental constraints.