Alignment System for a Miniature Echelle Spectrometer

The miniature echelle spectrometer, pioneered by Rigaku Analytic Devices in partnership with the University of Arizona College of Optical Sciences, provides high-resolution spectral analysis for laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. Although miniaturizing the technology makes spectral analysis accessible to a wider range of applications, it also increases spectrometer alignment sensitivity. The design team was charged with designing an alignment interface and procedure to enable the efficient and accurate assembly of the spectrometer at a production scale. The design involves a complex mechanical interface, which provides a total of nine degrees of freedom across two optical elements. A digital interface is integrated with the mechanical assembly to provide access to computer-assisted alignment routines. The final procedure is designed to optimize the alignment time by targeting the most sensitive elements in series, preventing crosstalk between variables, and simplifying the high-dimensional challenge of aligning all nine degrees of freedom.