title: A 3D Printed Toolbox for Opto-Mechanical Components.
abstract: In this article we present the development of a set of opto-mechanical components (a kinematic mount, a translation stage and an integrating sphere) that can be easily built using a 3D printer based on Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) and parts that can be found in any hardware store. Here we provide a brief description of the 3D models used and some details on the fabrication process. Moreover, with the help of three simple experimental setups, we evaluate the performance of the opto-mechanical components developed by doing a quantitative comparison with its commercial counterparts. Our results indicate that the components fabricated are highly customizable, low-cost, require a short time to be fabricated and surprisingly, offer a performance that compares favorably with respect to low-end commercial alternatives.
authors.affiliation: Quantum Optics Laboratory, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia.|ICFO - Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Castelldefels (Barcelona), Spain.
authors.forename: Luis José
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8277-0591
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Salazar-Serrano
authors.affiliation: ICFO - Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Castelldefels (Barcelona), Spain.|Dep. of Signal Theory and Communications, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: P Torres
authors.affiliation: Quantum Optics Laboratory, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Alejandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Valencia
mesh_terms: D004867:Equipment Design; D055095:Optics and Photonics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D066330:Printing, Three-Dimensional / Q000295:instrumentation*