Objectives Design and Manufacturing | Inside Thorlabs @thorlabs

Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago

Learn how advanced microscope objectives are designed and manufactured at Thorlabs Sweden. Since 2014, the team has been converting product ideas from customers, internal teams, and engineers with lab experience into objectives with high numerical apertures, long working distances, and diffraction-limited performance. Their one-piece production flow enables rapid customization and efficiency, utilizing single-diamond alignment turning, cleanroom assembly, and advanced metrology to get the customer’s objective or optical system from the design stage to the final product.

$Objectives Design and Manufacturing | Inside Thorlabs Learn how advanced microscope objectives are designed and manufactured at Thorlabs Sweden. Since 2014, the team has been converting product ideas from customers, internal teams, and engineers with lab experience into objectives with high numerical apertures, long working distances, and diffraction-limited performance. Their one-piece production flow enables rapid customization and efficiency, utilizing single-diamond alignment turning, cleanroom assembly, and advanced metrology to get the customer’s objective or optical system from the design stage to the final product.$

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$Build a Solar Imaging Telescope with Tracking Capability | Thorlabs Insights Imaging the sun can be dangerous to both people and equipment, but telescopes can be modified to include optical attenuators that reduce the image intensity to safe levels. The further addition of motors and software control allows a solar telescope’s azimuth and altitude positions to be automatically adjusted, enabling continuous tracking of the sun as it moves across the sky. In this video, a refractive solar imaging telescope, which uses a camera as the imaging device and Python code to control the motors, is designed, constructed, and demonstrated. The Python code and detailed instructions are available for download from Thorlabs GitHub page ( https://github.com/Thorlabs/Insights_and_Applications/tree/main/Tracking%20Solar%20Telescope ). The telescope’s design was constrained by the dimensions, light saturation limits, and response of the camera’s CMOS sensor. The focal length of the lens was chosen to provide the largest image that fit comfortably within the sensors area. That focal length determined the spacing between the lens and the camera. Optimizing the optical attenuation required first calculating a value providing intensity significantly beneath the sensor’s saturation limit, and then incrementally reducing the attenuation to shorten the cameras exposure time to less than 10 ms. Tracking capability was implemented using two motorized rotation stages, which were mounted in an orthogonal configuration using a custom 3D printed bracket, whose design file is also available for download ( https://github.com/Thorlabs/Insights_and_Applications/blob/main/Tracking%20Solar%20Telescope/Design%20Files/PRMTZ8%20Mounting%20Bracket.3mf ). Testing and rough alignment is performed indoors, and then the telescope is taken outside to demonstrate its ability to image and track the sun. 00:00 Introduction 00:33 Design to Prevent Injury 01:14 Telescope Overview 01:54 Lens Selection 03:55 OD of Attenuators 04:33 Telescope Assembly 07:27 ND Filter Selection & Stacking 08:36 Add Motorized Tracking 13:14 Python Control Software 15:23 Sun Imaging & Tracking Demo Telescope Components: - CS165MU CMOS Compact Scientific Camera: https://www.thorlabs.com/newgrouppage9.cfm?objectgroup_id=13677&pn=CS165MU&YVI=31 - Lens Tubes: https://www.thorlabs.com/newgrouppage9.cfm?objectgroup_id=3307&YVI=31 - Adjustable Lens Tube: https://www.thorlabs.com/newgrouppage9.cfm?objectgroup_id=4109&YVI=31 - AC254-300-A-ML Achromatic Doublet, f = 300 mm: https://www.thorlabs.com/newgrouppage9.cfm?objectgroup_id=2696&pn=AC254-300-A-ML&YVI=31 - Neutral Density Filters: https://www.thorlabs.com/newgrouppage9.cfm?objectgroup_id=266&YVI=31 Motor Assembly Components: - KPRMTE Motorized Rotation Stage and Controller: https://www.thorlabs.com/newgrouppage9.cfm?objectgroup_id=4134&pn=KPRMTE&YVI=31 - KCH301 USB Controller Hub and Power Supply for K-Cube®: https://www.thorlabs.com/thorproduct.cfm?partnumber=KCH301&YVI=31 - Custom Adapter, 3D Printed: https://github.com/Thorlabs/Insights_and_Applications/blob/main/Tracking%20Solar%20Telescope/Design%20Files/PRMTZ8%20Mounting%20Bracket.3mf - SM1RC Slip Ring for Lens Tubes: https://www.thorlabs.com/newgrouppage9.cfm?objectgroup_id=1533&pn=SM1RC&YVI=31 - MB8 Aluminum Breadboard: https://www.thorlabs.com/newgrouppage9.cfm?objectgroup_id=159&pn=MB8&YVI=31 - RDF1 Rubber Damping Feet: https://www.thorlabs.com/newgrouppage9.cfm?objectgroup_id=1867&pn=RDF1&YVI=31 - USB-A-79 USB Cable, Type-A to Type-B: https://www.thorlabs.com/newgrouppage9.cfm?objectgroup_id=2389&pn=USB-A-79&YVI=31 - TR1 Optical Post: https://www.thorlabs.com/newgrouppage9.cfm?objectgroup_id=1266&pn=TR1&YVI=31 - PH1 Post Holder: https://www.thorlabs.com/newgrouppage9.cfm?objectgroup_id=1268&pn=PH1&YVI=31 For more photonics how-to videos, visit https://www.thorlabs.com/newgrouppage9.cfm?objectgroup_id=14062&YVI=31$

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$How Small Can Lasers Focus? | Optics Explained How small a spot can a laser be focused? When looking at ray diagrams, it can look like the rays always converge to the same point, making an infinitely small spot. In reality, how well a laser beam can be collimated or focused is limited by diffraction. Not all lasers will focus with the same performance. Inside a laser cavity, light can oscillate in many different patterns, which all combine into the beam observed coming from the laser. These oscillation patterns are called “spatial modes”, “transverse modes”, “TEM modes”, or “LP modes” if in an optical fiber. Lasers containing more than one spatial mode are called multimode lasers. Only single-mode lasers, which consist solely of the fundamental TEM00 or LP01 mode, can achieve a diffraction-limited spot when focused. The beams from these single-mode lasers are called Gaussian beams, where their intensity profiles follow Gaussian curves along each axis. The intensity of the beam’s profile tapers off gradually, which can make the beams width harder to define. As a result, the diameter or width of a Gaussian beam is typically defined by where their intensity falls to 1/ e2 of their max intensity. With aberration-free optics, a Gaussian beam’s diffraction-limited spot size depends on its wavelength, its incident 1/ e2 beam diameter, and the effective focal length of the focusing optic. For many objective lenses, focal length may not always be specified in its data sheet, and numerical aperture can be used instead. This assumes that the incident 1/ e2 beam diameter matches the max pupil diameter specification of the objective lens. Smaller focused spots can be achieved using shorter wavelengths. Similarly smaller focused spots are achieved by increasing the incident collimated beam diameter or using a shorter effective focal length optic. In practice, not all elements may achieve this diffraction limit. Optical designs may limit performance in high numerical aperture systems. They can also feature defects due to the manufacturing process used, which can distort or aberrate the beam. This can prevent the beam from focusing to the diffraction-limited spot size and can deform the beam at the focus. When an optical system’s performance does not limit the performance, it’s referred to as “diffraction limited.”$

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