Established in 1996 in Padova, SpotOptics specializes in Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensors and their applications in research and industry.
Since 1996 we have been continuously developing and improving our instruments.
Our first Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor for testing an astronomical telescope dates back to 1993. We presented a paper titled 'Shack-Hartmann analysis of the optical quality of the primary mirror of the Italian Telescopio Nazionale Galileo' at SPIE's 1993 International Symposium on Optics, Imaging and Instrumentation in San Diego (USA).
The telescope correct alignment procedure was analyzed in the paper 'Telescope alignment: is the zero-coma condition sufficient?' presented at SPIE's 1995 Symposium on OE/Aerospace Sensing and Dual Use Photonics, in Orlando (USA).
A complete method for analyzing the quality of astronomical telescopes, 'Using the Shack-Hartmann system for a complete analysis of optical telescopes', was presented at the SPIE Optical Science, Engineering and Instrumentation '97 conference in San Diego (USA). This paper is also included in 'Selected SPIE Papers on CD-ROM: Optical Testing Vol. 3', edited by Daniel Malacara-Hernandez (1999).
5Star, Stella and Sfera are the world's first off-axis wavefront sensors. Our article published in Laser Focus World in 2008: 'TEST & MEASUREMENT: Wavefront sensing goes off-axis' received 'Commendation for Excellence in Technical Communications' from the Laser Focus World editors.
