Motor-Driven Polygon Mirrors for Measurements of Nano-Second Phenomena

Measurement and control of rapid optical processes usually require pulsed lasers or fast-response instruments, which are too expensive or complicated for use in industries. A motor-driven polygon mirror can deflect an optical beam so that it passes across a distance of 1 mm in 5 ns, i.e., a sweep velocity of 190 km/s. This time-space conversion realizes rapid modulation of a continuous-wave beam and observation of nano-second phenomena. This article reports some experimental results that were attained by the use of this sweep method.