Diffractive, refractive optics or anything more? Comparative analysis and trends of development

Abstract

The development of diffractive and refractive optics from ancient times (2000 years ago) to the present is traced from a theoretical and practical point of view. A comparative analysis of the possibilities of the two fields in optics is presented. The possibility for achromatization and corrections that exceed the boundary of diffractive and refractive optical elements is pointed out.

Modelling of the backside pattern transfer in magic mirror (Makyoh) imaging

“…Our results may have relevance in other areas of optics. It has been suggested by several authors [4,26,27] that Makyoh is a special kind of 'optical processing element' where a wavefront is modified by the subwavelength relief of a globally planar reflecting surface. This approach leads to the realm of freeform optics where Laplacian or magic-mirror imaging is often d [21,28].…”

Achromatic optical elements

“…Later diffractive optical elements with a phase jump equaled to 2πΜ (where M is integer >1) were developed [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] . These elements are known as multiorder 20 or harmonic 21 diffractive lenses and also as deep relief kinoforms 19 . Multiorder diffractive lenses have some benefits in spectral properties [18][19][20] but they are not fully achromatic.…”

“…These elements are known as multiorder 20 or harmonic 21 diffractive lenses and also as deep relief kinoforms 19 . Multiorder diffractive lenses have some benefits in spectral properties [18][19][20] but they are not fully achromatic.…”

“…The relief depth varies continuously within every zone and has jumps at the boundaries between neighbor zones. The analogous jump in kinoforms corresponds to the optical pass length equaled to the design wavelength λ 0 for the traditional kinoforms and equaled to Mλ 0 , where M is integer, for the multiorder kinoforms [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] . Contrary to this in the proposed optical system the jump value is not related to the wavelength and also can be varied within one optical element.…”

Microoptics in optical design

“…Dammann suggested using the phase depth of a diffraction grating as an additional design parameter, to optimize specific chromatic properties [14]. Again, the performance of the element can be understood as a combination of refractive and diffractive behaviour [15][16][17][18][19]. Again, the performance of the element can be understood as a combination of refractive and diffractive behaviour [15][16][17][18][19].…”