Optical Perspectives Group
{{AFC comment|1= This draft has one or more reference errors, which indicate errors in the formatting or use of the references. The reference errors should be corrected before resubmitting this draft. This draft cannot be reviewed in detail until the reference errors are corrected.
See Referencing for Beginners for instructions on how to format references.
If you do not know how to correct the reference errors, you may ask for help at the Teahouse or the Help Desk.
Optical Perspectives Group, LLC (OPG) is a privately held company based in Tucson, Arizona, United States, that develops and supplies instruments for optical alignment, centering, and metrology of optical components and systems.[1]
History
Optical Perspectives Group was co-founded in 1992 by physicists Robert E. Parks and William Kuhn.[2] The company was established to provide optical design, assembly, and testing expertise for precision optical systems. Since 2005, OPG has been solely owned and operated by Robert E. Parks.[3]
Parks, who holds degrees in physics from the University of Rochester, previously worked in optical fabrication and testing, including consulting on metrology issues related to the Hubble Space Telescope mirror.[4] He has authored or co-authored more than one hundred technical publications and several patents in optical testing and alignment.
Optical Perspectives Group was co-founded in 1992 by physicists Robert E. Parks and William Kuhn.[5] The company was established to provide optical design, assembly, and testing expertise for precision optical systems. Since 2005, OPG has been solely owned and operated by Robert E. Parks.[6]
Parks, who holds a degree in physics from the Ohio Wesleyan University, previously worked in optical fabrication and testing, including consulting on metrology issues related to the Hubble Space Telescope mirror.[1] He has authored or co-authored more than one hundred technical publications and holds several patents in optical testing and alignment.[5]
Products and technology
Optical Perspectives Group develops a number of precision instruments used for optical alignment and surface-finish characterization. Among its principal products are:
- The Point Source Microscope (PSM), a portable instrument derived from the autostigmatic microscope concept, used for locating centers of curvature and aligning optical elements and systems.[7]
- The CaliBall (I and II), precision calibration spheres used to characterize interferometer transmission spheres.
- The Micro-Finish Topographer (MFT), used to quantify surface roughness of optical surfaces.[1]
The company has also demonstrated methods using Bessel and Bessel–Gauss beams as alignment references, showing that such beams propagate through optical systems analogously to single rays in design software.[5]
Research and publications
OPG and its founder have contributed extensively to the optical metrology literature. Published work includes *“Optical alignment using the Point Source Microscope”* (SPIE Vol. 5877, 2005) and *“Optical Alignment Using Bessel–Gauss Beams”*, among others.[5] OPG’s research and white papers are available through its company website and have been cited in trade publications and scientific databases such as Bioz.com and AZoOptics.[8]
Markets and applications
OPG’s customers include research laboratories, aerospace and defense contractors, and optical manufacturing companies. Its products are used internationally for aligning lenses, mirrors, and interferometer systems where sub-micrometer and sub-arc-second accuracy is required.[9]
External recognition
The company is listed in the corporate-member directory of the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE).[1]
See also
- Optical metrology
- Autostigmatic microscope
- Bessel beam
- Interferometry
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Optical Perspectives Group, LLC". Optics.org Buyers Guide. SPIE Publications. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
- ↑ Parks, Robert E.; Kuhn, William P. (2005). "Optical alignment using the Point Source Microscope" (PDF). Optomechanics 2005. 5877. International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE). doi:10.1117/12.617808 (inactive 28 October 2025). Retrieved 28 October 2025.
- ↑ "About Optical Perspectives Group". OpticalPerspectives.com. Optical Perspectives Group LLC. 9 February 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
- ↑ "Optical Perspectives Group, LLC". Optics.org Buyers Guide. SPIE Publications. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Parks, Robert E.; Kuhn, William P. (2005). "Optical alignment using the Point Source Microscope" (PDF). Optomechanics 2005. 5877. International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE). doi:10.1117/12.617808 (inactive 28 October 2025). Retrieved 28 October 2025.
- ↑ "About Optical Perspectives Group". OpticalPerspectives.com. Optical Perspectives Group LLC. 9 February 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
- ↑ "Point Source Microscope (PSM)". OpticalPerspectives.com. Optical Perspectives Group LLC. 8 March 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedAzoOptics3 - ↑ "Optical Perspectives Group provides consulting on optical fabrication, testing, alignment and assembly". Novus Buyers Guide. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
<ref> tag with name "AzoOptics" defined in <references> is not used in prior text.
This article "Optical Perspectives Group" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Optical Perspectives Group. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
