Measuring the angles and pyramidal error of high-precision prisms
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High-precision prisms, having maximum angle tolerances J/mLB7^R
of 1 to 3 arcsec, find increasing application in optical metrology. }3+(A`9h f
Reported interferometric techniques for measuring -wO`o<
the wedge angles of such prisms achieve a precision of up ;zGGT^Dn
to 0.1 arcsec ~Ref. 1!, while noninterferometric techniques gKPV*
have a precision of up to 2 arcsec ~Ref. 2!. Reported noninterferometric ='mqfGRi>
methods have made use of goniometers,2 s0\X%U("
spectrometers,3 master prisms,4,5 and collimators.6 However, zgO?%O
in the literature there are few reported methods for X4o8
measuring the pyramidal error, and the majority rely on Xc@4(Nyp
visual observation,2,7,8 by which it is only possible to measure <}e<Zf!
pyramidal errors to the order of 1 arcmin ~Ref. 8!. B
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In the new arrangement presented here, one can measure osnDW
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the prism angle and the pyramidal error separately or in h;B'#$_
combination. This is possible because the measurements Q8P;AN_JS
are made simultaneously but with different techniques.