Specific developments in optical technology over the past thirty years including refractive materials, thin film coatings and surface profiles will be discussed. A large variety of optical designs which depend on some of these developments will be described. The optical design examples presented will cover the infrared, visible, ultraviolet and combinations of these wavebands. A novel multi-waveband optical system that utilizes many of these developments will be illustrated in several possible configurations to meet different application requirements. A summary of the technologies employed in all of the optical design examples will indicate whether or not there may be trends in optical technology development. The optical design examples will be taken from issued Patents or published Patent applications and hence their optical prescriptions will be available for detailed analysis.
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