Optical table

An optical table is a piece of equipment for optics experiments and technologies.

In optical setups, especially when they involve interferometry, the alignment of all component must be most accurate -- precise up to a fraction of a wavelength (ususally a few 100 nanometers). Little vibrations or tensions in the table on which the elements are set up would prove fatal. Hence, one needs an extremely sturdy table, which does neither vibrate nor bend, not even under heavy loads.

Such an optical table is made of steel in a thick honeycomb lattice structure. Its surface usually has a grid of holes to allow for screwing down the components so they cannot move even a few nanometers. Often, its legs are pneumatic vibration dampers. For even more accurate setup, one also rules out air movements and temperature gradients by enclosing the surface in a plexiglass box and putting a "flowbox" above, a device to produce a laminar downwards stream of air brought to a fixed temperature by special air conditioning.