Hi ppl, I'm not sure there are another posts related to this topic.
But it seems to me that this is a very important topic as many of you
are working with anamorphic prisms.
Most of us in fact have fixed anamorphic prisms, but we haven't figured
what a wonderful thing a regulated anamorphic pair of prisms could be.
For example: we use anamorphic prism pairs to make diode laser beams circular by expanding or compressing one axis of the elliptical beam profile.
Unfortunately each kind of diode laser shows its individual elliptical axis ratio.
Therefore, the probability to get a perfect circular beam depends on the diode itself (is beam profile) and the pair of prisms we get.
On the other hand we know that a pair of prisms could be turned adjustable resulting in a variable magnification between 2 and 6, or in a variable compression between 0.6 and 0.2 of one axis of the elliptical beam profile.
In practice: Many of us have anamorphic prisms, like the ones in the famous (in photonlexicon at least) Melles Griot laser module.
So, if we manage to make them adjustable, the result is a perfect circular beam for all kinds of diode lasers.
(well not all, but all that as a relation between axis till 6:1)
In all cases the output beam remains parallel to the incident beam with a constant beam displacement of 8 mm Máx.
Any comments? (I'll post some pictures or a movie in action as at the moment trying to mount such a thing).
Jose