Pieces and components must be precisely placed, and the slightest deviation from these careful measurements can ruin an experiment or render a piece of equipment useless.

In some cases, engineers may use an optical table, a heavy-duty four-legged work table designed to absorb, isolate, and dampen vibrations created by the surrounding environment or by equipment atop the table. Optical breadboards are a portable, smaller version of optical tables, which can be used in conjunction with optical tables or used as a suitable replacement where an optical table may be impractical.

The direction of a ray of light through a lens is governed by Snell’s law, which is dependent upon the refractive indices of the lens material and the the environments on either face. An optical lens is normally, but not necessarily, made of glass and the environments are normally, but not necessarily, air or a vacuum.

Visit OnePointe Solutions online today to browse our selection of quality lab furniture, and be sure to check out our blog for more information on topics like this and much more.

Optical engineers performing tests and manufacturing optical components and equipment require a stable work surface possessing specific vibration dampening qualities that help to keep carefully calibrated equipment from being shifted. Optical engineering is a technical, highly precise field, one that often takes place on a microscopic scale.

While optical tables are standard in many optical engineering and manufacturing facilities, there are occasions when a smaller, portable option is needed. Here are just a few common applications of breadboards:

To provide additional vibration isolation and dampening to thinner optical breadboards, some technicians may place these platforms atop soft air springs or other shock-absorbing accessories.

The internal body of an optical breadboard is comprised of a honeycomb lattice structure, similar to the inner structure of a standard optical table, though not all optical breadboards include this additional body. Thicker breadboards may be equipped with additional dampening features such as insulating fillers, while others may rely solely on rigidity to reduce vibrations.

Acoustic breadboards are extremely rigid and inflexible, not bending or flexing under changing loads or amid experimentation. Lightweight enough to accommodate travel, or to be moved to different areas of a facility without much effort.

Lenses allows you to enter a radius for each face of the lens (positive for convex and negative for concave) a lens thickness, the direction and position of an entering light-ray, a distance to the object being observed and refractive indices for the lens material and the environments on both surfaces.

Often used interchangeably, optical breadboards and optical tables possess many of the same qualities, but that doesn’t mean that they are the same. Depending on your specific needs, an optical table may be more useful than an optical breadboard, or vice versa. Here are a few of the key differences between the two:

Some breadboards are designed to be affixed above standard optical tables to provide additional height or extra surface area, whereas others are designed for optimum portability.

Either or both faces of a lens are normally spherically concave or convex (or even flat), the radii of which will determine its performance.

The lens calculator provides details of the path of the light-ray through the lens, the principal planes and points within the lens, its focal length and its limiting optical diameter (above which parallel light will be reflected internally). The lens calculator also provides an active image of the lens and the light-path through it.

These holes are typically spaced between ½ an inch and one inch apart and can accommodate standard ¼ inch screws. Each hole is closed at the bottom to contain small pieces.

An optical lens concentrates light that has passed through it magnifying or shrinking the projected image of an observed object by an amount dependent upon; the distance between the lens and the object, and the shape of the lens.

Optical breadboards are legless platforms made from solid aluminum, carbon, or steel. The top surface of an optical breadboard features a grid of evenly spaced threaded holes to accommodate mounted equipment and optical components.