Optical Delay Line Mirror Mounts are an easy-to-use, versatile fixture used for creating an optical delay line. There are two orthogonal surfaces for mounting standard mirrors, allowing an input optical beam to be reflected back, offset but parallel to itself.
An optical delay line is used for applications where the delay in the time domain between two or more light-pulses needs to be varied by increments in the femtosecond (fs) to nanosecond (ns) regime. The difference in path length between two beams divided by the speed of light gives the actual time delay. Note that three 9848 delay line mirror mounts are used to make the delay line shown in the photo.
A delay line is a optical configuration that is used to extend or shorten the length of a beam path without changing the alignment of the beam. The 9848 optical delay line mount has two precision-machined mounting surfaces to ensure standard mirrors sit at exactly 90 degrees to each other, allowing an input optical beam to be reflected back, parallel but offset from itself. The precision surfaces, identifiable by the laser-marked hatched pattern, are fabricated to be perpendicular to each other within 30 arc sec.
The 9848-KT Optical Delay Line Mirror Mount is a kit of parts including the 9848 fixed delay line mirror mount and an adjustable kinematic platform mount. The separate parts can be assembled quickly with standard lab tools.
A key advantage of this mount is that it holds various sizes, shapes and thicknesses of mirrors and allows variable spacing between the input and output beams up to 2 in. (50 mm). In the photo below, a standard round mirror is used with a square mirror to create a retroreflector.
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