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Johan Petit is a French research engineer at ONERA, the French aerospace lab, researching material characterization. In 2022, his project was to calculate the refractive index of a material using a prism for different infrared wavelengths of light. The refractive index of a material is a number that describes how fast a light beam travels through that material, and it is essential to know that number for several applications. In his setup, Johan shines a laser on a prism and rotates the prism until the reflected beam (on the back face of the prism) is collinear with the incident beam. When this is the case, Johan can easily calculate the refractive index from 
and 
angles (see fig. a).
If the material is subject to changes in temperature, then the setup can also be used up to 1000°C and even more if needed.
For his experiment, Johan had first considered a broadly tunable QCL source. However, the price was much higher than the single wavelength QCL source offered by mirSense, and, in the end, a single wavelength source was good enough for the project’s scope, and this is why Johan Petit decided to purchase a QCL source from mirSense, in a turnkey version so that he could use a plug-and-play version in his lab.
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Have questions?
For additional contacts about the project, please contact:
Dr Johan Petit – Research Engineer
ONERA – The French Aerospace Lab – Centre de Châtillon
29 Avenue de la Division Leclerc – BP 72 – 92322 CHATILLON CEDEX
France