A stiff honeycomb-core or solid metal plate with tapped holes, M6 on a 25 mm grid in metric labs and 1/4-20 on a 1 inch grid in imperial ones. Breadboards build portable or raised sub-assemblies on top of an optical table, which is the same idea at full scale with vibration-isolating legs. Mixing metric and imperial hardware is a classic lab frustration.
Build the doubler on its own breadboard so we can lift the whole thing off the table if the experiment moves.
Also heard as
- optical breadboard
Related terms
Kinematic mount
An adjustable optic holder that uses three-point contact and fine screws to set tip and tilt repeatably.
Periscope
A pair of stacked mirrors that changes a laser beam's height above the table, and optionally rotates its polarization.
Walk the beam
To align a beam onto a path using two steering mirrors adjusted in turn against two targets or irises.