Optical design dependence on technology development

Abstract

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.

Convergence and differentiation of Zernike expansion: application for an analysis of odd-order surfaces

“…[1][2][3][4][5] In particular, the effectiveness of odd-order surfaces, which are expressed with terms including an odd-integer power of the radius, has begun to be recognized via the designs of viewfinders, 6 microscopes, 7 camera lenses, 8 projection display optics, 9 EUV optical systems, [10][11][12] and so on. Since aberration characteristics of odd-order surfaces differ largely from those of conventional aspheric surfaces, it is meaningful and important to analyze the features of odd-order surfaces mathematically.…”

Certification of null corrector by a single spherical lens

“…Because of the progress in optical manufacturing in recent years, aspheric surfaces are widely used in the design of optical instruments [1], especially in largeaperture reflective objectives, such as three-mirror anastigmatic (TMA) and three-mirror Cassegrain (TMC) systems. Manufacture of an aspherical mirror depends on the level of its optical testing.…”