Two-channel tunable monochromatic illuminator with a concave diffraction grating and an original scanning system

A two-channel monochromatic illuminator with only one diffraction grating a nd an original scanning system has been designed for multiple applications. This scanning system consists of two rotational plane mirrors that reflect light diffracted by a concave diffraction grating to the +/-1 orders of th e spectrum. The light reflected by the mirrors goes to two exit slits that correspond to two channels of the device. The positions of the centers of r otation of the mirrors are selected to produce minimal deviation of the dir ection of the light reflected during the scanning. The aberration character istics of some variations in the optical mounting of the device made by use of spherical and toroidal holographic diffraction gratings recorded in sti gmatic and astigmatic beams, the possibilities for application of the devic e for measuring the color sensitivity of the human eye, and the possibiliti es for measuring the efficiency of concave diffraction gratings, are also d iscussed. (C) 2000 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: 050.1950, 120.620 0.