ETA PTO photonics technician operator exam guide exam help

ETA Photonics Technician Operator (PTO) is an ETA International certification for technicians who assemble, measure, test, and repair optical components such as lenses, mirrors, filters, fiber optics, electro-optic devices, photonics devices, lasers, and light-emitting diodes. ETA describes operator-level technicians as working in photonics-enabled applications such as manufacturing, materials processing, internet and communications, biomedical equipment, defense, homeland security, and systems integration.

ETA Press lists PTO as a stand-alone certification with maintenance required, a 4-year term, hands-on required, 233 questions, a 75% passing score, and 2 hours allowed to test; ETA also notes that the knowledge component comprises four separate exams that must be taken within a 2-year period. Preparation should cover applied mathematics, scientific method, measurement units and conversions, dB and dBm, radiometric and luminous measurements, algebra, trigonometry, logarithms, graphs, scale drawings, light as rays and waves, reflection, scattering, absorption, Snell's law, critical angle, total internal reflection, prisms, aberrations, lenses, mirrors, thin-lens formulas, f-number, apertures, wave optics, interference, diffraction, polarization, laser physics, coherent versus incoherent light, stimulated emission, laser media, mirrors, resonators, gas, ion, solid-state, dye, excimer and diode lasers, optical fibers, ANSI Z136.1 laser safety, MPE, NHZ, electrical and chemical safety, laser device operation, power measurement, optimization, preventive maintenance, optical cleaning, beam characterization, alignment, optical instruments, radiometric and photometric measurements, interferometric fringe evaluation, electronics instruments, soldering, circuit diagrams, mechanical and optical drawings, CAD drawings, data collection, spreadsheets, logbooks, scheduling, and documentation.