Compact & robust solution for laser beam steering
At CarboSpaceTech, we developed a Rotating Wedge for applications that require laser beams to be aimed at distant targets. This compact, robust and economical device for beam steering was designed for Hensoldt for use in semiconductor industry.
Risley prism
The CST Rotating Wedge is based on a Risley prism. The beam deflection is only dependent of the rotation of prisms around the optical axes which is measured directly and highly precise. The system is therefore resistant towards positioning in the beam path as well as environmental conditions such as temperature or vibration.
Key features of Rotating Wedge
Rotating Wedge technical information
Beam deflection
Risley prisms work in pairs. The two prisms are oriented in a way so that they deflect light in the same direction and therefore work as a single prism. Thus, offering the advantage of doubling the angle.
Example 1: If each prism is rotated about the optical axis by the same angle but in opposite directions, the beam is deviated by a small amount but stays close to the level defined by the optical axis and the refracted beam.
Example 2: If the prisms are rotated by 90°, they act parallel with no angular deviation.
The beam deflection only depends of the prisms angles and is insensitive towards external influences such as vibration or temperature. An in-house designed calibration technique provides very high absolute precision of the beam deflection.
Optimized system
The system is optimized for a long lifetime (downtime and propagation).
BLDC motor
With the BLDC motor, very high speed can be reached.
High resolution encoding
For our Rotating Wedge we use an encoder with high resolution at nm range.
Controllable drive
We are using a back lash free drive with excellent controllability.