Sam's Electronics and Laser Kit Information and Manuals

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For any of the kits that use an Atmega328 Nano 3.0 microcomputer, if problems are encountered in uploading the firmware or running the GUI, the 2019 or earlier version of the CH340 driver may be required. It may be found at CH340 Windows USB Driver Installer (2019)(Local). More info may be found in the µSLC1 manual, below.

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But first since most of these involve HeNe lasers in some form:

Must Read:

• Safety Guidelines for HeNe Lasers and Bare Laser Tubes These safety guidelines are specifically for the types of HeNe laser provided in the kits below. For general electronics safety info, see Safety Guidelines for High Voltage and/or Line Powered Equipment.

HeNe Lasers and Laser Controllers:

• Red HeNe Laser Kit 1 (Including Zeeman). Basic setups consisting of a HeNe laser tube from 0.5 to 1.0+ mW, compatible power supply, cables and ballast resistors. Zeeman adds a set of magnets to convert to two frequency laser. The longitudinal mode behavior of these tubes is not guaranteed to be suitable for stabilizing but they are suitable for most laser experiments.

• High Power Red HeNe Laser Kits. These typically have an output of 2-4 mW in a TEM00 beam. The tubes may be either random or linear polarized (most are random). Includes the tube, compatible AC-Input or DC-Input HeNe laser power supply brick, ballast resistors, tube clips, and high voltage wire, and plastic tube mounts if compatible.

• Stabilized HeNe Laser Kits (Normal setup with and without Arduino). The tube in these kit has been tested to be suitable for stabilizing. In addition to the parts in the Red HeNe Laser Kit above, it includes a thin-film heater and power supply, PBS, and photodiodes so the laser can be stabilized and used as a single frequency laser. The Arduino version includes the µSLC1 locking controller kit.

• Stabilized HeNe Laser Kits (Compact setup with and without Arduino). Similar to above but using a plastic housing for the tube and power supply so issues with high voltage wiring are eliminated. And the laser part of it is, well, compact. ;-)

• High Power Stabilized HeNe Laser Kit with or without Arduino. The tube in these kits has an output power of 2.5 mW or more so that the locked power in a single mode is similar to that of higher power commercial stabilized HeNe lasers.

• Stabilized Zeeman HeNe Laser Kit with or without Arduino. In addition to a tube tested to be suitable for Zeeman, it includes a set of 50 rare earth magnets to be configured surrounding the tube along with additional optics for Zeeman stabilization and testing, along all the parts in the other stabilized HeNe kits.

• Stabilized Zeeman HeNe Laser Kit with Hewlett Packard (HP), Agilent, or Keysight Laser Tube Assembly with Arduino. This replaces the bare tube, heater, magnets, and waveplates with the tube assembly from a 5517 or Z4203/N1211A laser, but still using the µSLC1 Arduino controller.

• Micro Stablized Laser Controller 1 (µSLC1). These are parts for ONLY the Arduino-based locking controller that will work with most 0.5 to 4+ mW HeNe laser tubes.

• Assembly and Operating Instructions for Open Cavity HeNe Laser Kits with HeNe laser tubes having one or two Brewster windows, or perpendicular windows.

Michelson Interferometers:

• Construction Guidelines for Michelson Interferometer Optics Kits.

• Sam's Educational Michelson Homodyne Interferometer Project Manual V2.1 This is a general Michelson interferometer apparatus implemented with commercial as well as custom parts. It supports a variety of interferometer configurations, tests demonstrating thermal and pressure sensing, displacement measurement using homodyne interferometry with µMD0, and more. Several versions are now available on eBay. Search for "Sam's Michelson Interferometer Experimental Setup".

• Sam's Educational Michelson Heterodyne Interferometer Project Manual V2.1 This is similar to the one above but uses a stabilized HP/Agilent 5517 two frequency (Zeeman) HeNe laser in place of an unstabilized linear or random polarized HeNe laser. It supports the same interferometer configurations, tests demonstrating thermal and pressure sensing, and more. But also includes a ball bearing rail and µMD2 for higher performance displacement measurement. It should be available soon.

Displacement Measuring Interferometers and Displays:

• One, Two, or Three Axis Laser Interferometer Displacement Measurement System. Complete systems for precision measurement including an HP/Agilent 5501B or 5517 laser, interferometer optics, optical receiver(s), power supplies, and µMD2 readout.

• DIY Interferometer Displacement Measurement System includes parts to construct laser and µMD display for homodyne, heterodyne, or combined (but not at the same time) interferometer. Except for the laser tube, everything else is akin to using stone knives and bear skins rather than commercial parts. ;-)

• Micro Measurement Display 0 (µMD0) minimal implementation for homodyne interferometers using single frequency or unstabilized HeNe lasers as well as linear and rotary encoders and ring laser gyros. Includes links to detailed "Heathkit™-style" assembly instructions for the optional SG-µMD0 PCB. Limited performance but at ultra-low cost with large hackability factor. ;-) Great for a course project or to just to get your feet wet in precision measurement.

• Micro Measurement Display 1 (µMD1) for heterodyne interferometers using two frequency lasers. Includes links to detailed "Heathkit™-style" assembly instructions for the SG-µMD1 PCB. Note that only the PCB and programmed PIC are available directly. However, a Digikey "Cart" with most of the other parts is linked from the manual.

• Micro Measurement Display 2 (µMD2) for homodyne interferometers using single frequency lasers as well as linear and rotary encoders and ring laser gyros. Includes links to detailed "Heathkit™-style" assembly instructions for the SG-µMD2 PCB.

• LIPM: An Inexpensive Laser Interferometer-Based Precision Measurement System. This is not a manual but an article on what the DIY Interferometer Displacement Measurement System Kit is based on and provides more general information.

• Basic Quadrature-Sin-Cos Decoder and Quad-A-B Interfaces including optics and electronics for homodyne interferometers to drive µMD0 and µMD2.

• Optical Receiver 3 (OR3) for Heterodyne Interferometers, including assembly and operation. These are similar in function to HP/Agilent 10780s usable at more than 3 MHz with optical power below 5 µW but are smaller and run on 12-15 VDC.

• Quad-A-B Preamp 2 (QAB2) for Homodyne Interferometers and Optical Encoders, including assembly and operation. These provide two channels of optical to RS422 conversion at more than 3 MHz (3,000,000 counts/second) with optical power below 25 µW and run on 12-15 VDC.

• Dual Polarization and Quad-Decoder PCBs (DP1) for Scanning Fabry-Perot and homodyne interferometers. These are simple PCBs for mounting beam-splitters and photodiodes.

• Micro Motion Control Platform (µMC1) for use with the displacement measuring interferometers or Michelson interferometer kits. Includes stepper motor-driven linear stage, motor driver, Arduino-compatible controller with custom breakout PCB.

Scanning Fabry-Perot Interferometers:

• Basic Scanning Fabry-Perot Interferometer Kit (also known as SFPI Kit 1). These are parts to construct a confocal SFPI with as FSR of ~1.75 GHz for laser wavelengths from ~590 nm to ~650 nm using your creativeness for mounting everything. ;-) An SFPI of this type is also known as a Laser Spectrum Analyzer. It includes the mirrors, PZT, and photodiodes.

• Deluxe Scanning Fabry-Perot Interferometer Kit (also known as SFPI Kit 2). This adds Thorlabs parts to simplify construction.

• Deluxe Short, Mini, Micro, and Nano Scanning Fabry-Perot Interferometer Kits. These use the same mirrors as those above, but with smaller frames to construct really compact instruments.

• Selectable FSR Scanning Fabry-Perot Interferometer Kit 1. This one is for the SFPI nerd-type who would like to explore the resonances in a spherical cavity that his or her professor probably doesn't even know exist. ;-) It uses the same mirrors as the kits above, but with an adjustable mirror mount on a lockable carriage on a rail and micro-positioner to be able to quickly and easily set the cavity spacing precisely over the entire stable range for the 4.2 cm RoC mirrors.

• Long and High Resolution Scanning Fabry-Perot Interferometer Kits. Similar to above but the mirror RoCs are from ~13 to 100 cm, generally to achieve higher resolution. These also include a few at other wavelengths.

• Universal Scanning Fabry-Perot Interferometer Kit. The ultimate SFPI kit for the mirror junkie in you life. ;-) It has parts to construct all of the confocal SFPIs, above (but not at the same time).

• Planar Mirror Scanning Fabry-Perot Interferometer Kits. Both mirrors are planar to be able to provide an arbitrary FSR, or because suitable curved mirrors are not available.

• Mini Laser Mode Analyzer 1 Manual (V2). mLMA1 is an Arduino-based self-contained miniature controller intended for the short Basic and Deluxe SFPIs, as well as providing readout of power in the lasing modes or output power, Zeeman split frequency, and more. NOT recommended for high resolution and or planar SFPIs.

The following are not currently available as kits and probably never will be. They are here for information only:

• Mini Laser Mode Analyzer 1 Manual (V1). This was the predecessor to mLMA1-V2. Its benefit is simplicity in hardware and especially the firmware so it can be easily hacked. ;-)

• Universal Bipolar PWM Driver 1. High efficiency Arduino-based power supply for electromagnets and the like providing continuous control of positive and negative output up to at least 2 amps depending on the DC power supply feeding it.

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