Today we made good progress on preparing our ALIO stages, which we will use to direct the beam of light pointed at the Kepler camera. The stages move in x, y, and z directions, and allow us to very precisely position our spot of light, which is critical for the analysis of intrapixel responses. We hooked up the z stage (vertical) to the regulators and our tank of pressurized nitrogen gas, which we use as a counterbalance to help lift some of the load from the motor. There was a lot of software we had to download as well, and many setup wizards to run and read through. We studied the manual that I read last week while working through this, and it definitely helped to have the manual there. Unfortunately, there appear to be some pieces of code missing from the preset program, so we are now in the process of setting up a phone call with some experts from the ALIO company to help walk us through this next section of the setup.
I also read and learned about Gaussian beams of light and the mathematics behind them. Essentially if a beam of light is collimated and then passes through a convex lens, or through a series of lens, as it does in our scenario, then it will behave in a Gaussian-like manner (it works almost perfectly with laser light). Through the explanation of the formulas, I learned that the behavior of a Gaussian beam depends only on the "waist", or narrowest part of the beam, and the wavelength of light. This is very good for us, as it means we can analyze the beam of light much more easily, changing just one or two variables and calculating the rest of the beam's properties.
A model of a Gaussian beam's "waist" as position varies from the focus point (at the center).
No comments:
Post a Comment