Low Wavefront Distortion (LWD) top adjust optical mounts are specifically designed to hold mirrors in a way that will not induce optical distortion. They use an axial three-point mounting method to gently, but securely, hold optics with tight flatness tolerances. With the top adjust feature, your hands never have to cross into the beam path area.
In traditional top adjust mounts, a screw pushes directly on a machined ramp to adjust the mirror position. To improve upon this design, our Stability™ top adjust mounts utilize a cam mechanism as a pivot in combination with sapphire kinematic bearing surfaces to maneuver the ramp and adjust mirror position, together with dual mounting holes and thick frames, resulting in very low friction and superior mechanical stability. These mounts are also designed with a unique three-point optic-retention system which optimizes stability while minimizing wavefront distortion.
Top adjust mounts have their adjustment screws located above where the optic is held so that your hands never have to cross into the beam path area.
With the axial 3-point mounting, because there are twice as many mounting points, the forces that would cause distortion are essentially cut in half, more distributed, and axially opposite to eliminate bending.
Top adjust mirror mounts feature a slimmer profile and smaller footprint than traditional mounts. As such, they can often fit more easily into tight or restricted spaces when traditional mounts may not. Top adjust mirror mounts are ideal for use in laser cavities and OEM applications.
These mounts feature alignment pin holes (shown in red) on the bottom (base) of the mount to enable keying of the position and orientation by means of dowel pins when directly mounting. (Note: Dowel pins not included with mount.) This is especially helpful in OEM applications.
Since grease can migrate, causing long-term creep, these mounts are exclusively fitted with thread-matched adjustment screws which need almost no grease. The result is actuators that have very smooth movement, and mounts with exceptional long-term and thermal stability.
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