Automation of the optical alignment of a diode-laser spectrometer by means of simplex optimization

Optimization of the optical alignment of a tunable diode-laser spectrometer can be automated by using a commercially available Simplex optimization program. This alignment is achieved by displacing a collimation lens placed in front of the laser in three mutually perpendicular directions by motorized positioning equipment. The detector signal, after lock-in amplification, is taken as the optimization criterion. Best parameter settings of the program are discussed on the basis of experimental results. It is demonstrated that the program gives very reliable results in terms of reproducibility of the optimal alignment.