White cell design considerations

Abstract

The White cell is a unit-magnification image relay system consisting of three noncoaxial spherical mirrors of equal curvature. The cell is used to provide a long optical path in a relatively small physical space. Multiple reflections are used, in a manner similar to a unstable laser resonator. A particular application is an optical delay line on the input of a streak camera to allow for the finite triggering time of the sweep start. This paper addresses the first- and third-order properties of the White cell. A displacement sensitivity analysis is included.