Quadrant-Division Technique for Differential Sensitivity Optical Beam Measurement

A novel method for optical beam collimation measurement is presented. The collimating lens is utilized in four parts of quadrants with the beam aligned onto the first quadrant and configured to pass the subsequent quadrants. This allows the test beam to pass the collimating lens for four times. Subsequently, the test beam is reversed to achieve a total number of eight passes. Hence, for a defocus introduced, the collimation state of the test beam can be evaluated at the amplification of eight. The evaluation of the test beam is performed based on the approach of collimation testing using lateral shearing interferometer. The proposed technique provides a differential collimation sensitivity for accurate setting of a highly collimated beam.