Hillsboro, Oregon, April 18, 2012 – Hinds Instruments, Inc., a leading supplier of polarization measurement technology, today announced it has shipped the latest version of its Exicor® OIA™ – Oblique Incident Angle Birefringence Measurement System to a major global customer for measuring low level birefringence. Designed for advanced characterization of planar and curved surface optics used in imaging applications, the Exicor OIA provides repeatable metrology for stress birefringence measurement at visible and now DUV wavelengths. Users benefitting from OIA capability include optical lithography, space astronomy and other advanced lens applications.
This latest version of the Exicor OIA system advances the original platform by pairing Hinds Instruments’ PEMLabsTM Dual PEM 193nm light source measurement line with the Oblique Incident Angle solution. The addition of the DUV 193nm measurement capability supports the “measure at wavelength of use” principle championed by leading optical researchers. In customer pre-shipment factory acceptance testing, the advanced version OIA passed all system requirements including +/- 0.005nm (3 sigma standard deviation) measurement capability, through-the-lens measurement from +50° to -50° in 1° degree increments for lenses in both X-Y and Ɵ measurement configurations, through-the-side measurement in Y and Z, and temperature measurement stability. Site installation and user training were completed in early April, 2012.
User operation of the advanced OIA is controlled by an extensive user interface and system control software package that automatically calculates, locates and measures measurement beam entrance and exit pathways for a wide variety of lens types. User-defined measurement patterns and sequences are allowed through convenient macros. Standard sample size capacity is up to 400 mm diameter, 200 mm thick and 60 kg.
Hinds Instruments, Inc. is a world leader in developing and supplying polarization measurement technology for a broad range of applications. With 40+ years of polarization measurement experience, Hinds Instruments metrology solutions are proven tools for laboratory and research applications. Hinds’ family of products includes photoelastic modulators, Stokes polarimeters, Mueller matrix polarimeters, MOKE measurement systems and Exicor® birefringence measurement systems. For more information, please contact Hinds Instruments.