Research and Development in Applied Optics and Optical Glass at The
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' Research and Development in Applied Optics and Optical Glass at the National Bureau of Standards A Review and Bibliography United States Department of Commerce National Bureau of Standards Miscellaneous Publication 194 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE • Charles Sawyer, Secretary NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS • E. U. Condon, Director Research and Development in Applied Optics and Opt Glass at the National Bureau of Standards A Review and Bibliography By Irvine C. Gardner and C. H. Hahner National Bureau of Standards Miscellaneous Publication 194 Issued July 15, 1949 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C. Price 15 cents Contents Page I. Introduction 1 II. Optical instruments and optical systems 2 1. Refractometry 2 2. Range finders 4 3. Lens design 5 4. Photographic lenses 5 5. Optical shop 7 6. Testing of optical instruments and systems 9 7. Services as consultant 10 III. Optical glass 10 1. Slip-casting of clay melting pots 10 2. Effect of composition on the optical properties of glass 11 3. Annealing of optical glass 12 4. Measiu-ement of physical and optical properties of glasses 12 5. Chemical analysis of glass 13 6. Chemical durability of glasses 13 7. Defects in glass 14 8. Transmission of radiant energy 14 9. Consulting and advisory services 15 10. Testing and specifications 15 IV. Bibliography of Bureau publications 15 1. Optical instruments and optical systems 16 (a) Photogrammetry 1 16 (b) Photographic objectives 16 (c) Design and construction of optical instruments 16 (d) Testing and use of optical instruments 16 (e) Miscellaneous papers on optical instruments - 17 (f) Refractometry 17 2. Glass 17 (a) Methods of manufacturing optical glass 17 (b) Effect of composition on optical pi-operties 18 (c) Annealing 18 (d) Measm'ementof physical and optical properties of glasses. 18 (e) Chemical analysis of glass 19 (f) Chemical durability of glasses 19 (g) Transmission of radiant energy 19 (h) Miscellaneous 20 (11) Development Optical Glass at the 1 of Standards Bibliography and C. H. Hahner ^elopment work in technological optics that Standards. Noteworthy accomplishments I, 70-inch optical disk (at the time of manu- Ohio Wesleyan University; a comprehensive tion and index of refraction of optical glass; erature and index; the design and construc- focal length which resolves railroad ties and miles; the design and construction of large Doratory for testing range finders and similar ning to optical glass and optical instruments is included. I. Introduction r Optical instruments include not only those vising of methods for testuig and calibration, instruments developed for making observations or the preparation of specifications, and complete measurements within the field of optics but also consultant service. numerous devices which serve as tools in other In both world wars, the requirements of the scientific work and for commercial and military Armed Forces for optical fire-control instruments applications. Within the first group, many of resulted in a tremendous expansion in domestic which have found important commercial uses, are production of optical glass and optical instru- spectrometers, polarimeters, interferometers, re- ments. Many new instruments, new optical fractometers, and diffraction gratings. In the glasses, and new processes for optical glass manu- second and much larger group are astronomical facture were developed. Indeed, the peacetime telescopes, microscopes, binoculars, surveying in- requirements for precision optical instruments are struments, motion pictme projectors, airplane almost negligible in comparison with the need for camera lenses, bomb sights, and range finders. military optical instruments in wartime. More- All outstanding characteristic of optical instru- over, the demands made on industry for the pro- ments is the high precision necessary in their duction of nonmilitary optical instruments are operation. This requires not only extremely accu- relatively stable, as the required characteristics of rate design and construction of all optical and the various instruments do not change greatly mechanical parts but also the development of within short periods of time. In military optical diiferent types of optical glass each having a work the reverse is true, and the necessity for specified index of refraction within a very close specialized laboratory research is correspondingly tolerance whUe at the same time homogeneous increased. and free from flaws, chemically and physically In view of the apparent need in this country for stable, highly transparent, and colorless. a continuing, integrated program of research and The National Bureau of Standards, since its development in optica,l science, the National founding in 1901, has carried on a broad program Bureau of Standards, with the cooperation of the of optical research and development which has Armed Services, has conducted a coordinated series led to the solution of many problems of interest of projects basic to the production of all types of to Government agencies and private industry. optical instruments, with special emphasis on This work has included the development of tech- military fire-control devices. The National nological processes for the production of optical Bureau of Standards is particularly well fitted to glass, the study of the properties of optical mate- render such service inasmuch as it is the only rials, the maintenance of optical standards, the scientific institution in the world which has, design of lenses and optical systems, the produc- entirely within its own organization, complete tion of prototype optical instruments, the deter- facilities for making an optical instrument begin- niination of performance characteristics, the de- nmg with the raw materials and producing in tm'n i the glass, the optical design, the lenses and prisms, the mechanical parts, and finally the finished instrument. The greater part of this higlily spe- cialized work is clone in the Bureau's Optical Instrument Laboratories, Optical Shop, Glass Technology Laboratories, and Optical Glass Plant. However, valuable assistance is frequently re- ceived from sections of the Bureau concerned with such diverse fields as chemical analysis, refrac- tories, mechanical instruments, photographic tech- nology, interferometry, spectroscopy, radiometry, photometry, colorimetry, automatic computing, and electron microscopy. The scope of the optical program at the National Bureau of Standards may be indicated by examples of representative projects. Experience gained in basic research on the theory and methods of lens design has been applied in designing a large number of lenses required by other Government agencies. The Bm'eau has also established proce- dures for measuring and specifying the charac- teristics of photographic lenses, particularly those used in aerial photography. For the assistance of industrial and commercial laboratories, methods in the sections which follow, the more important, of high-precision refractometry were developed, phases of the work of the National Bureau of and standards of refractivity set up. Durmg the Standards in the fields of optical instrumentation last war, a specially designed laboratory for the and optical glass are listed and briefly discussed. development and testing of range finders was These investigations have led to nearly 200 pub- completed, and other military optical fire-control lications by members of the Bureau staff, which instruments, as well as devices for testing them, are given in a bibliography at the end of this have been designed and developed. Very large paper. References to the bibliography are made optical elements, required for supersonic wind in the text by means of numbers in parentheses. II. Optical Instruments and Optical Systems The work at the National Bm-eau of Standards indicating galvanometer deflection (35), spherom- on refractometers, range finders, lens design, and eters, a camera lucida, a magnifying stereoscope photogrammetry, because of its extent and im- (4), a field telemeter (32), an anallatic telescope, portance, will be discussed in special sections which and an optical instrument for measuring the wall follow. Investigations of a general nature related thickness of a compressed gas container (36). to all optical instruments have involved a study The Bureau has also built an interferometer with! of resolving power (45) ; the preparation of stand- a 4-inch aperture for testing optical components; ard resolving-power charts with instructions for or the homogeneity of optical materials, and theu' use in testing camera lenses (12, 13); the construction of a much larger one is almost com- publication of detailed instructions for the pro- plete. Other instruments designed and built ati duction of muTors by chemical deposition of the Bureau for its own testing needs include a-: silver on glass (24); and the development of an special precision camera for testing airplane' interference method, based on the Hartmann test, camera lenses and cameras (10), an instrument- for determining the aberrations of an optical for testmg 12-inch plane surfaces interferometri-, system (47, 55). cally over the entire surface at one time, optical A niunber of instruments have been developed benches (18), an optical spherometer, and many for special piu-poses. Among these are an optical smaller instruments. coincidence gage for measuring small distances 1. Refractometry (25, 57), an instrument for machining spherical surfaces of long