Institut national d’optique - INO

Optical design and mechanical engineering are specialties with numerous applications, and a field in which INO boasts one of the greatest concentrations of expertise in North America. From optical design to mechanical engineering, optical assembly, alignment, prototyping, optical measurement, optical characterization and small series production, the whole chain of optical engineering is mastered at INO. Our engineers are experts for providing effective solutions to your specific optical requirements.

In the course of our work, we have carried out projects in a variety of fields, including optical instrumentation for astronomy, military systems, medical applications, security and surveillance, guidance and pursuit, remote sensing, digital vision, industrial inspection, and aerospace. With our vast expertise in different fields of optics, supported by over 200 people, interdisciplinarity is one of our main strengths.

INO offers environmental testing services to clients for a wide variety of purposes including quality control, ground, air and ocean transport simulations, accelerated aging simulations, resonance frequency searches, specifications and standards compliance testing, and product qualification testing for standards like MIL-STD, FOTP, and ESA.

Customized

At INO, through optical consulting, we prototype custom optical systems such as cameras, objectives, zooms, telescopes, imaging, laser, beam delivery and illumination systems using reflective, refractive, aspheric, diffractive and cylindrical lenses. Our expertise extends from UV to visible, IR and up to Thz.  

We use sophisticated CAD and optical design software such as ZEMAX-EE, ASAP, Pro-Engineer and Ansys to create integrated optomechanical solutions that deliver optimal performance at minimum cost.

Our purpose: to create an optical system that meets your needs in every respect, as shown by some of our achievements.

Specialized equipment

In order to stay on the technological cutting edge, INO renews and increases its very large equipment park every year for providing you the best optical engineering service in North America. Also, we provide optical testing and environmental testing for components or system.

List of available services - Optical measurements (also available in PDF file)

Spectral measurements

• Characterization of the behavior of various materials as a function of wavelength (glass, plastics, metals, mirrors, anti-reflection coatings, interferential filters, fabrics, lotions, etc.)
• Direct or diffuse transmission
• Specular reflection (at normal incidence or at an angle)
• Diffuse reflection
• Wavelengths in the ultraviolet, visible, and infrared spectra
• Spectrofluorometry
• Fiber spectral characteristics

Emission spectrum of light sources

• Characterization of a source’s relative intensity as a function of wavelength
• Incandescent sources (LED, fluorescent, laser, etc)
• Wavelengths near the visible spectrum (350–1000 nm)

Luminous intensity and illuminance

• Measurements of illuminance (lamps, LEDs, etc.)
• Characterization of a source’s luminous intensity based on an illuminance measurement taken at a given distance
• Characterization of the angular distribution of the intensity of a light source
• Possibility of photometric (based on human eye response) or radiometric measurements (power)

Luminance and contrast

• Measurement of luminance
• Characterization of LED display panel contrast based on background luminance and display luminance measurements

Colorimetry

• Quantification of the color of an object or surface by contact
• Results expressed in Yxy or L*A*B* color systems
• Possibility of differential measurements in relation to a benchmark
• Characterization of the color of various objects (plastics, fabrics, paints, foods, etc.)
• Characterization of color of a light source or a distant object (Yxy values only)

Interferometry

Variety of possible measurements using (Zygo Mark GPI xps) an interferometer

• Planarity of surfaces (windows, mirrors, prisms)
• Precision of convex or concave surfaces (lenses, mirrors)
• Measurement of the vertical curve of an optical surface (lenses, mirrors)
• Wavefront distortion transmitted by an optical element (windows, lenses)
• Angle errors and quality of wavefront transmitted from corner cube
• And more

Wavefront measurement

• The Shack-Hartmann sensor maps the local slopes of the wavefront to be analyzed
• Characterization of numerous parameters like beam divergence and aberrations such as astigmatism, coma, etc.

MTF (Modulation Transfer Function) measurement for

• The visible spectrum
• Characterization of an optical system’s effectiveness at resolving various levels of detail by measuring the contrast obtained at various spatial frequencies

Precision angle measurement

• Measurement of the deviation between two optical surfaces using an autocollimator or goniometer
• Characterization of the parallelism of a window or prism angle

Precision measurement using a microscope

• Various types of microscopes available depending on the required resolution: optical microscopes, electron microscopes (SEM), or atomic force microscopes (AFM)
• Accurate measurements of component dimensions, images of particles measuring a few microns, surface roughness characterization, etc.

Inspection of optical components

• Diameter or dimensions
• Thickness (center or edges)
• Planarity or vertical curves, focal length
• Surface quality (roughness, scratch & dig)
• And more

Surface measurements

• Interferometric microscope (LEXT)
• DEKTAK surface profilometer

Characterization of thin films

• Tencor (stress measurements)
• Ellipsometer

Characterization of optical fibers

• Spectral attenuation
• Absorption
• Fiber index profile measurements (EXFO NR9200)
• Preform fiber index profile measurements (PK 2600)
• Birefringence measurements
• Cutoff wavelength
• Characterization and modeling of photodarkening in active fibers

Laser beam profiling

• Laser beam diagnostics using a CCD camera from ultraviolet to near infrared (i.e., 266–1300 nm) or a slit-scan pyroelectric detector from ultraviolet to far infrared (i.e. 190 nm – 100 µm)
• CW or pulsed laser beam analysis: diameter (1/e² and 4s), divergence, quality factor (M² and BPP), astigmatism and asymmetry following the X/Y orthogonal axes
• Measurement method compliant with ISO 11146-1:2005 in force

Alignment of custom optical systems

Take a look at our various achievements and discover the range of possible applications or contact us to find out how we can meet your specific needs.