One hundred years ago, optical workers of London assembled to discuss a variety of topics in optics. This paper provides an overview of The 1905 Proceedings, a discussion of the state of optical design in this period based on relevant books of the period, and an introduction to a self-published autobiography of a worker active in the period that was found on The Internet.

Walter Mandler (1922-2005) designed many double Gauss lenses for Leica cameras. We review; form and aberration balance for his most renowned lenses. Designs are re-evaluated using modern optimisation routines with special attention to glass replacement.

Optical tolerancing is a critical step in the optical design process. Tolerancing is when the engineer works to ensure that the as-built system will perform properly. This paper will discuss past, current, and possible future methods of optical tolerancing. The goal of the paper is to stimulate a discussion on this important topic in the greater optical design community.

As optical systems and packaging constraints become more complex, the demands on optical alignment become more severe. We describe a straightforward method of alignment that optimizes optical system performance.

A person lacking training in optical design programs may perform tasks using the design program's power. This paper addresses how API, with Windows Component Object Model, allows a person lacking understanding of the operation of the design program to run optical sensitivity routines.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is developing a standard for the exchange of optical data in electronic form between different design programs. In order that the data be completely unambiguous an on-line Properties Dictionary is also being established, when finished this should be available to subscribers to ISO and will enable optical designers and manufacturing industry to access information accurately and transfer this information without manual intervention, across many boundaries. The Neutral Optical Data Interchange Format (NODIF) will use this dictionary to define the optical data that can be passed between to any CAD programs that are STEP compliant. NODIF is of concern to software developers, the Properties Dictionary is of concern to manufacturers.

Micromirrors arrays can be used to correct residual wavefront aberrations in certain optical systems. The aberration correction capability of arrays of piston-only and piston-tip-tilt micromirrors are compared. Sandia's micromirror fabrication program is discussed and two example systems are presented.

We show that third-order pupil aberrations in an axially symmetric imaging system represent the basic stretches or deformations that the cross section of a beam can have at the exit pupil.

General sine condition for plane-symmetric imaging system has been derived before. If satisfied, an optical system is free of all aberrations with linear field dependence. In this paper, we use Welford's isoplanatism theorem for nonsymmetric systems to corroborate the general sine condition. We also present some special types of plane-symmetric aplanatic imaging systems to show the effectiveness of the condition.

This work presents the expressions for the third-order aberrations of a thin lens in air made with an axial gradient index material (AGRIN). These are derived from those corresponding to two homogeneous plano-aspheric thin lenses, with the plano surface in contact, as it has been proposed. Further, they have been expressed as a function of the shape factor, B, and conjugate variable, C, to be consistent with those previously published considering other thin-lens cases. Simple examples of their suitability for obtaining a third-order system predesign are shown.

Light distributions of a plane wave refracted by a microlens are calculated using Kirchhoff vector diffraction theory. Numerical results for one and two-dimensional beam profiles and the onset and effects of spherical aberration and coma are investigated for different lens parameters.

The on-axis wavefront aberrations of a one-dimensional sub-wavelength grating anti-reflection coating on a f/1.7 lens surface is dominated by defocus, astigmatism, and piston. The astigmatism is 0.02 waves and the magnitude of the piston approaches 1 wave peak-to-valley. The difference in aberrations between orthogonally polarized wavefronts, or the retardance aberration, shows 0.01 waves of astigmatism like variation and more than 0.01 waves of retardance induced defocus like variation.

The human crystalline lens is a layered structure. Unique protein solution in each individual cell layer gives a different refractive index value thus resulting in a gradient index (GRIN) lens. Crystalline lens GRIN not only provides extra optical power for both relaxed and accommodated eyes, but presumably plays an important role in balancing/reducing eye aberrations and maintaining image quality. In existing eye models, the crystalline lens is either treated as a homogeneous lens or a GRIN lens but with two separate GRIN equations for anterior and posterior segment due to its asymmetrical index distribution along the optical axis. In this study, a single continuous GRIN equation with optical power variability is constructed. A dynamic eye model incorporating this equation for various accommodative states is proposed and simulated in CODEV.

During the last years, new microscope applications require an increased resolution which enforces the development of new state of the art high NA immersion objectives. With the introduction of the 4Pi confocal fluorescence microscope, the increase of the numerical aperture from NA=1.4 to NA=1.46 makes sense, although the gain of lateral resolution is quite small. On the other hand, for inspection and metrology in the semiconductor industry the continuously decreasing structures need the highest possible resolution, which can be achieved with high NA water immersion objectives working in the DUV wavelength range. Building this kind of objectives requires special measuring and testing technologies and a manufacturing precision which has never been realized before in series production.

A biophotonics catheter was conceived with collimation optics, an axicon lens, and custom design imaging optics yielding a 360 degree scan aimed at imaging within concave structures such as arteries and lung lobes. The large depth of focus is necessary to image a long-depth-range sample with constant transverse resolution in optical coherence tomography (OCT). There are two approaches to achieving constant invariant resolution in OCT: Dynamic focusing or Bessel beam formation. This paper focuses on imaging with Bessel beams. The Bessel beams may be created with axicon optics which can be used instead of a conventional focusing lens in the sample arm of the OCT interferometer. In this paper we present the design of a 2mm catheter for optical coherence endoscopy with resolution of about 5 micron across a depth of focus of about 1.6mm. Importantly, we investigated the fabrication of a 800μm diameter axicon lens and the associated lateral resolution obtained over a long depth range in our OCT system, compared to the same OCT system using a conventional lens.

This paper discusses the optical design and tolerancing of an apochromatic, 0.9 NA immersion objective to be used in a coherence reflectance confocal microscope for in-vivo clinical imaging.

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a novel optical imaging technique that has assumed significant importance in bio-medical imaging in the last two decades because it is non-invasive and provides accurate, high resolution images of three dimensional cross-sections of body tissue, exceeding the capabilities of the current predominant imaging technique - ultrasound. In this paper, the application of high resolution OCT, known as optical coherence microscopy (OCM) is investigated for in vivo detection of abnormal skin pathology for the early diagnosis of cancer. A main challenge in OCM is maintaining invariant resolution throughout the sample. The technology presented is based on a dynamic focusing microscope imaging probe conceived for skin imaging and the detection of abnormalities in the epithelium. A novel method for dynamic focusing in the biological sample is presented using variable-focus lens technology to obtain three dimensional images with invariant resolution throughout the cross-section and depth of the sample is presented and discussed. A low coherence broadband source centered at near IR wavelengths is used to illuminate the sample. The design, analysis and predicted performance of the dynamic focusing microscope objective designed for dynamic three dimensional imaging at 5μm resolution for the chosen broadband spectrum is presented.

This paper presents the design and experimental evaluation of a miniaturized fluorescence imaging instrument for genetic diagnostics on a biochip. It further demonstrates the capability of the instrument to perform multiple quantitative PCR in microscale.

This paper describes a computational approach to handling CAD objects within the framework of optical design software. Very fast ray-tracing speeds can be achieved through realistic objects used in the manufacture of optical systems.

In this work a numerical technique for calculating the influence of diffraction of an electromagnetic wave by a boundary in an optical system within a ray-tracing environment is presented. The technique was inspired by the theory of Boundary Diffraction Waves applied at circular apertures. The numerical technique presented here is intended to analyze diffraction of a wavefront at a circular aperture within an optical system, but not restricted to being the aperture stop. At the diffractive aperture discrete sampling of the wavefront permits the selection of a geometrical wave and separates this wave from an assumed boundary wave that will direct luminous energy from the incident wave into the geometrical shadow. Sampling requirements are also discussed since three sampling periods need to coexist. A pseudo-random sampling technique is applied to sample the diffracted rays in order to reduce aliasing in the final irradiance distribution. The technique is incorporated into a traditional ray tracing environment to allow future generalization of the technique. Two cases were simulated. First the far-field diffraction due to a circular aperture was simulated. The results were close to the analytical solution of diffraction by a circular aperture in the Fraunhofer region. The comparison was feasible in a ray-tracing environment due to the incorporation of perfect imaging lens that acted as a phase element in that appropriate phase correction was introduced. Finally a thick bi-convex lens was simulated such that the aperture was placed before the bi-convex lens.

Optical designers often insert or split lenses in existing designs. Here, we present, with examples from Deep and Extreme UV lithography, an alternative method that consists of constructing saddle points and obtaining new local minima from them. The method is remarkable simple and can therefore be easily integrated with the traditional design techniques. It has significantly improved the productivity of the design process in all cases in which it has been applied so far.

We describe a method of using Global Synthesis^"R" for finding tolerance-insensitive design forms. By simultaneously optimizing several design configurations that are nominally identical but differ by tolerance-level perturbations, one is essentially requesting that the optimizer find solutions that are insensitive to the types of perturbations present. Global Synthesis is a useful tool for examining a wide range of design forms; when combined with a merit function that prefers less sensitive solutions, it is particularly useful in exploring the space of tolerance-insensitive design configurations.

We have previously developed a global optimization method using an escape function that finds multiple local solutions in the multidimensional parameter space of a lens. We have applied this method to various actual design problems and have been able to understand some topological features of the merit function in its parameter space. These experiences have led us to develop an improved global optimization method that takes into account the robustness of the lens with respect to manufacturing and assembly errors. The method uses a technique that we call "θ-segmentation" to perform the escape function search in a smaller parameter space. After reaching an acceptable solution with the escape function, it often seems impossible to reduce the sensitivity in tolerance without degrading the image quality already acquired. Generally speaking, performance and robustness are in a trade-off relation, i.e. reduced sensitivity can be obtained only by increasing the merit function of the system. However, in reality, it is often possible to reduce sensitivity without substantial increase of the merit function. Furthermore, in many cases, it is possible to reduce the merit function and the sensitivity simultaneously by using our new method.

Easily manufactured lenses can be designed using global optimization with the results sorted based on their predicted asbuilt performance. The most easily manufactured lens depends critically on the performance goals.

Parameterization via the bend locus curve allows optimization of single-spherical-bend lightpipes. It takes into account the bend radii, the bend ratio, allowable volume, thickness, and other terms. Parameterization of the lightpipe allows the inclusion of a constrained optimizer to maximize performance of the lightpipe. The simplex method is used for optimization. The standard and optimal simplex methods are used to maximize the standard Lambertian transmission of the lightpipe. A second case presents analogous results when the ray-sample weighted, peak-to-average irradiance uniformity is included with the static Lambertian transmission. These results are compared to a study of the constrained merit space. Results show that both optimizers can locate the optimal solution, but the optimal simplex method accomplishes such with a reduced number of ray-trace evaluations.

Uniformity remains a central topic in illumination system design and mixing rods provide an effective means to providing uniformity. Typically, flux enters one end of a mixing rod and the flux exiting the other end provides improved spatial and/or angular uniformity. We investigate the use of mixing rods with rippled surface structures to provide enhanced uniformity.

A novel LED light extraction and mixing optic and two free form SMS surfaces are employed in a high efficiency projection optic. By combining the light of several high brightness LEDs with a single optical element, an ultrabright light source can be formed, whose shape and emission characteristics can be adapted to almost many kinds of illumination problems. A LED combiner forms a virtual source that is tailored for application. The illuminance distribution of this virtual source facilitates the generation of the desired intensity pattern by projecting it into the far field. The projection is accomplished by one refractive and one reflective freeform surface calculated by the 3D SMS method. The method is demonstrated for an LED automotive headlamp. A high quality intensity pattern shape and a very sharp cutoff are created tolerant to LED to optics misalignment and illuminance variations across the LED surface. A low and high beam design with more than 75% total optical efficiency have been achieved.

A novel bending lightpipe operation scheme with an arbitrary bent angle without light leakage is illustrated in details. Possible applications to a light-splitting element that could split light flux with specified separation ratio, and a light-mixing element that could mix light fluxes from several ports of entrance without light leakage are also shown with case demonstration.

In displays such as backlights and signage, it is often desirable to produce a particular spatial luminance distribution of light. This work demonstrates an iterative optimization technique for determining the density of light extractors required to produce desired luminance distributions.

This paper begins by "re-introducing" the phenomenon of total internal reflection and the associated critical angle, including a careful discussion of the extent to which the "total" in TIR is truly total, and the "critical" in critical angle is truly critical. Although in one sense these points are largely of theoretical interest, they also have an applied aspect in relation to controlling TIR. From this perspective, two practical applications of TIR are discussed. The first involves illuminating engineering applications with prism light guides, and the second concerns electronic image displays employing frustrated TIR. In both cases the unique attributes of TIR play a key role in the efficiency and practicality of these applications.

Since the discovery of stereopsis in the 19th century the display of stereoscopic information has taken on a variety of forms. From the original Wheatstone stereoscope to the current technology of head-mounted displays and parallax barrier displays, the advantages of binocular vision have been exploited to produce a different kind of display experience. Designing optical systems that take advantage of stereopsis creates a different set of constraints and image artifacts. This paper reviews some of the methods of creating a stereo image and highlights some of the unique system design considerations.

We describe the optical system design and analysis of a wearable dual-element off-axis display based on a magnifier form that supports an 8mm exit pupil and a 20 degree diagonal full field of view.

The novel concept of the ET-HMPD, which consists of a Head-Mounted Projection Display (HMPD) with an integrated Eye-Tracking (ET) capability, was recently presented as well as the design of some of its components [Curatu, Hua and Rolland, Proceedings of the SPIE 5875, 2005]. In this paper, we present the overall system design and performance, assuming an ideal cold cube and semi-transparent hot plate.

An advanced catadioptric projection optics installed on state-of-the-art flat panel exposure tool is introduced. Both scaling up and aspheric lenses added to the conventional two-mirror optics have enlarged off-axis good imaging field, and contributed to increase the productivity of the machine. This paper discusses the optical characteristics of the advanced optics, and refers to its contribution to the performance of a large flat panel display (FPD) exposure tool. Additionally, not only the fabrication technology of large optical parts in the projection optics but also illumination optical system and mask /plate alignment system in the exposure tool are also disclosed.

In today's digital age, digital projectors and their application are gaining in significance, especially in the home theater area. We have to pay more attention in our design than ordinary data projectors designers do to the enhancement of both definition and contrast for home theater projectors and this complicates the optical design of the projector. In this paper the lens design samples focused on the application of a projector with a DMD (Digital Micro mirror Device) system. With the DMD device, there are three different optical engine designs at present: non-telecentric, telecentric with a TIR (Total Internal Reflection) prism and Field Lens types. The lens design using a TIR prism will be discussed in this paper. Such lenses have the telecentric design on the image side because of the TIR prism. The Lens design with 1.6X zoom ratio for 1080P resolution will be presented and its limitations regarding performance, F-number and zoom ratio will be discussed.

Design configurations for a 45° field magnifier are investigated systematically. A hybrid surface is essential. Stray light effects due to surface microstructure are considered. A demonstration unit with 8μm features is described.

The problem of design of a reflector system for redirecting and reshaping the irradiance distribution of a point source over a prescribed target set in the near-field is considered. The solution of this problem is developed under the geometrical optics (GO) approximation. The novelty is that our method is not limited to the usual input and/or output irradiance profiles which are rotational or rectangular symmetric. Consequently, the designer has more flexibility in satisfying the requirements of a practical design problem.

We describe rational Bezier spline-based parametric description of non-imaging collimators and implementation into optical design software. Together with non-linear optimization routines and adapted merit functions this provides flexible tools for development of light sources with LEDs.

A novel two-mirror high concentration nonimaging optic has been designed that shares the advantages of present two mirror aplanatic imaging concentrators but also overcomes their main limitation of trade-off between acceptance angle and irradiance uniformity. A system concept has been defined, and a first prototype in under development.

A novel waveguide-optical integrator is introduced for applications to LEDs. The concept is based upon a Kohler illuminator made of Luneburg lenses. Typical Kohler illuminators are formed by pairs of thin lenses, and perform badly when the paraxial approximation is rough, i.e., when the angular span of the incoming rays is wide. In contrast, the new illuminator performs ideally for angular spans up to 90° (±45°), and has only a 3% loss for a 180° angular span. In general such an illuminator cannot be made in 3D, because adjacent Luneburg lenses overlap. It can, however, be implemented in planar optics, by using Rinehart geodesic lenses. This waveguide device has application in illumination engineering as a light mixer, particularly for LEDs. Another light mixer using a combination of two kaleidoscopes with a geodesic lens is also presented. Irradiance at the exit of a kaleidoscope has good light mixing if the kaleidoscope is long enough, but the intensity is never well mixed, irrespective of the length. Inserting a Rinehart geodesic lens produces a 90-degree phase-space rotation of the rays, i.e., it exchanges irradiance and intensity. An further kaleidoscope assures complete mixing in both irradiance and intensity.

Designing micro-optics for light-emitting diodes must take into account the near-field radiance and relative spectral power distributions of the emitting LED die surfaces. We present the design and application of a near-field goniospectroradiometer for this purpose.

The remarkable properties of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) make them ideal sources for many applications ranging from indicator lights, optical communication systems, and displays to solid-state lighting. In this paper a radiometric approach to realistically model the intensity spatial distribution of encapsulated LEDs is presented. We provide an analytical relationship between the radiated pattern and the main LED parameters (chip, encapsulant, and reflector).

In this paper, we propose a novel LED modeling algorithm for precise 3-D light pattern simulation. Normalized cross correlation is proposed to to verify the validity of the simulation in 1-D intensity pattern as well as 2-D irradiance pattern in various mid-field distances. The model is demonstrated to obtain more than 98% in normalized cross correlation between the simulation light pattern and experimental measurement for a TIP LED emitter by Lumileds.

The transposition of signals in space is fundamental to the optical interconnection of electronic systems. Previous free-space implementations employed a scheme based on imaging systems that are prone to aberrations. The system proposed here is useful for implementation of a three-stage Clos network, an optical transpose sector switch, a reconfigurable optical transpose system, and an optical cross connect switch. The purpose of this paper is to propose a non-imaging system for an optical transpose interconnect system, where a macrolens is inserted between the two mesolenses arrays, at the centre. The proposed macrolens is a Fourier transform lens system designed to be virtually aberration free.

Diffractive nano-focusing and nano-imaging have many applications in soft X-ray microscopy, spectroscopy, nano-lithography, and in telescope. They can be realized by novel diffractive optical elements of photon sieve and of modified Fresnel zone plates. A photon sieve is composed of a great number of pinholes whose positions and radii are properly chosen. Similarly, a modified Fresnel zone plate is composed of a great number of open rings whose positions and widths are also properly chosen. Recently, an individual far-field model was established to analyse and design a photon sieve. The key point is that the individual diffracted fields of the pinholes have reached their own far fields because the pinholes are very small. Similarly, the individual diffracted fields of the open rings of a modified Fresnel zone plate can be also given in analytical form. Further, we established the equivalent pupil function theory for a general modified Fresnel zone plate. On one hand, one can calculate the focal spot shape of a pre-given modified Fresnel zone plate, and on the other hand, one can design a specific modified Fresnel zone plate to generate a desired focal spot shape.

With two orthogonal spatial filters all directions of two-dimensional motion can be measured. A modification of the aperture function of the lattice allows an innovative measuring real time system for particle sizing and position monitoring. Every plane motion can be described with two velocity components. If two planar local filters are formed, then the directional characteristic can be changed, so that for all directions of object motion an evaluable output signal is generated. It is preferable to use orthogonal speed components because these produce minimal resultant error in the velocity vector. In our approach two-dimensional structured photo detector arrays are used as a spatial filter [1-3]. A modification of the aperture function of the lattice allows the realization of an innovative measuring system for particle sizing. The output signal is comprised of equidistant signal effacements, whose distances are dependent on the particle size [4-6]. What makes this method very interesting, particularly with regard to real time systems, is the possibility of pixel linking inside the sensor.

The Fourier transform lens consisting of an aspherical element is analyzed in terms of the supportable number of pixels by formalizing an en-squared-power ratio as a function of the Nyquist aperture ratio and aberrations.

The use of several materials (Ge, ZnSe and GASIR1) and bi-spectral diffractive surfaces are evaluated for the design of dual waveband optical systems, MWIR and LWIR. The design of a complex objective is described.

The principle of operation, the optical design and the performances of a new type of lenses that enhanced the capabilities of 360° panoramic video system will be presented. Particularly we will discuss how to control the anamorphic and the distortion profile.

Digital light field photography consists of recording the radiance along all rays (the 4D light field) flowing into the image plane inside the camera, and using the computer to control the final convergence of rays in final images. The light field is sampled with integral photography techniques, using a microlens array in front of the sensor inside a conventional digital camera. Previous work has shown that this approach enables refocusing of photographs after the fact. This paper explores computation of photographs with reduced lens aberrations by digitally re-sorting aberrated rays to where they should have terminated. The paper presents a test with a prototype light field camera, and simulated results across a set of 35mm format lenses.

Designing lenses for cell phone cameras is different from designing for traditional imaging systems; the format poses unique challenges. Most of the difficulty stems from the scale of the system, which is based on the size of the sensor.

The traditional approach to designing an electro-optical imaging system involves first optimizing the lens subsystem using an optical measure of performance and second optimizing the image processing subsystem. Designing the system in this sequential fashion fails to exploit opportunities for efficient cooperation between the optical and digital systems. We introduce a novel framework for designing digital imaging systems and specifically an end-to-end merit function based on pixel-wise mean squared error. We describe how we adapt commercial ray tracing software to design the matched optical and image processing subsystems in a joint fashion while satisfying the constraints imposed on each of the subsystems.

The effect of the 2D structured noise on the post-processing of images in hybrid optical-digital imaging systems is studied on the basis of the Wiener restoration filter. 2D structured noise is modeled as an additive noise that has the same random value along a row or a column in the image. The restoration is carried out with the Wiener filter in an unsupervised way by the use of well established procedures to determine the filter constant as a function of the noise power. We show that the classical Wiener filter is not satisfactory for the case of systems affected by 2D noise and we conclude that this is caused by an overdetermantion of the 2D noise in the procedure to find the filter constant. From this conclusion we propose a new filter based on the separability of the Optical Transfer Function of the optical system that depends on two constants, one for each principal direction of the 2D noise. Furthermore, we define a procedure for the unsupervised determination of these constants and we evaluate the quality of the restoration obtained by this procedure.

2X Optical Zoom lenses on compact mobile phone are nowadays increasingly demanded but few samples with 2X optical zoom function have succeeded in being compactable with very thin mobile phones, especially when more than two million pixels CCD or CMOS are involved. Most mobile phone designers are reluctant to increase the thickness of mobile phones to accommodate the 2X optical zoom lens or to redesign the whole mobile phone to fit a lens with a large front diameter into the right place. In this paper, a newly designed 2X Zoom lens with an extremely small front diameter is proposed for mobile phones offering two million pixels because the aperture stop is at the first element of this 2X optical zoom lens. Additionally, its total overall length is reduced to something reasonably small compared with that of current mobile phone systems with two million CMOS pixels. The result is that its MTF (modulation transfer function) and other aspects of performance meet the requirements of an optical zoom lens with two million pixels CMOS.

This paper describes a concept for a compact high-demagnification afocal telescope that feeds separate imaging channels of widely different spectral bands, without the need for a dichroic beamsplitter or a switch mirror.

Zoom lenses are usually designed for a specified waveband and change magnification, and thus resolution, for different object sizes or different object distances. However, the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST)/ Visible Light Broadband Imager (VLBI), under development by the National Solar Observatory, require constant resolution for different wavelengths over a wide spectral range (388.3 nm 3o 854.2 nm). An eight-element zoom lens meeting this requirement is presented, and yields diffraction-limited performance over the field of view at nine specific wavelength/zoom positions. Each zoom position, corresponding to a specific wavelength, has a focal length and f/number for achieving constant CCD sampling. The Strehl ratio of the telescope is greater than 90% over all zoom positions.

Quasi-static speckles are the main source of noise preventing the direct detection of exoplanets around bright stars. We are investigating the use of an infrared (1.5-2.4 μm) integral field spectrograph (IFS) specialised for speckle suppression and the detection of self-luminous giant planets. This paper presents the optical design and laboratory results obtained with a TIGER-type IFS prototype based on a microlens array. A similar IFS will be used for the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI). Preliminary speckle-suppression performances of the IFS are presented along with a prism design that allows keeping a constant spectral resolution over multiple wavebands as it will be required for GPI.

Differential atmospheric refraction does not cause a net rotation of a field of stars thus a correctly tracking equatorial telescope does not require rotation of the detector during observations. Ira S. Bowen was mistaken in 1966 in his calculation of star trails. In the publication of his lecture titled "Future Tools of the Astronomer" after being awarded the Gold Medal from the Royal Astronomical Society in 1966, on page 18, he said "At this point I should digress to make a few remarks about the ultimate limitation on the size of field we may hope to reach. For many purposes this will be set by differential refraction in the atmosphere". It shows trails for a ring of stars at a declination of 60 degrees for a site at 30 degrees latitude, for an 8-hour exposure over a 2 degree field diameter. The tangential component of the East and West trails is 3 seconds of arc (arcsec). The correct separation is 0.4 arcsec in the opposite direction which balances the 0.4 arcsec clockwise trails of the North and South stars. Also his 0.6 arcsec radial trail should be 1.1 arcsec. The source of the errors is in the application of spherical trigonometry.

A polarimeter is built to be used with the SCUBA-2 camera of the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope to study polarized sub-millimeter radiations. We simulated the effect of the polarimeter on image quality and polarization measurements.

Refractive infrared optical designs have traditionally covered modest FOVs in one spectral band. The design of a fast, extreme fisheye lens imaging 360° azimuth by 120° elevation over the full 3-12 micron band is described. The various relevant tradeoffs that were explored are detailed and the advantages and disadvantages of each approach are discussed. In particular, the applicability of reflective and diffractive solutions is described.

The results of design effort for infrared zoom systems using all reflective aspheric surfaces are described. Issues such as the paraxial design theory and aberration balancing are discussed in detail. Two all reflective zoom optical systems are disclosed clearly. Both of them are to be used with uncooled infrared detectors. The first design is an unobscured three mirror zoom system without any intermediate image, and the second is a three mirror system with central obscuration which forms an intermediate image. With the design theory further developed, this kind of systems can be designed for cooled infrared detectors, for which cold stop matching is an important issue.

A design study leading to a new inline catadioptric design type is presented. The design is especially dedicated to be used with extreme ring field geometries not known in lithography optics so far. This may allow to increase the numerical aperture to the physical limits both in dry and immersion lithography. An exemplary system with high numerical aperture is shown.

Projection lenses for high resolution lithography have high NA and work at small wavelengths. In the wavelength regime of VUV (e.g. 193nm), there is a very limited number of optical glasses available, namely fused silica and calcium fluoride. The latter is very expensive and used only sparely, leading to limited possibilities for chromatic correction. In addition to catadioptric approaches, another way to deal with chromatic aberrations is the use of diffractive optical elements (DOEs). They have negative dispersion coupled with positive power and they do not contribute to the Petzval sum. Moreover, it is easy to integrate an aspherical functionality into the structure of the DOE. Usually a DOE is placed close to the aperture stop to correct axial color. The stop of a lithographic projection lens often is located at the largest diameter, causing some serious fabrication difficulties for the DOE. For this reason a class of lenses with intermediate image is of interest. Here, the accessible conjugate of the aperture stop enhances the possibilities to arrange the stop and the DOE. This allows a convenient tradeoff between fabrication challenges and aberration correcting properties. We present different lens designs that take advantage of the named properties of DOEs at high numerical aperture.

The evolution of the microlithographic lens is described based on an analysis of main features of the lenses in each generation. Even current lenses, comprising more than 20 elements, can be understandable through the analysis.

The lens design problem for the 2006 IODC is to take a cylinder of N-BK7 glass 100 mm long and divide it into two separate lenses, which when shuffled back together like a deck of cards will reform the original glass cylinder. The two lenses must have the same focal length, entrance pupil diameter, and field of view, and must both be near diffractionlimited in performance. There is no restriction on the number of elements in each lens, as long as they can reform the glass cylinder. The merit function is the product of the entrance pupil diameter and the semi-field of view. There were 32 entries; the number of elements in each sub-lens varied from 5 to 37. The merit functions varied from less than 100 to over 400. The winning entry had an EPD of 17.8 mm and a field of view of 22.78° for a merit function of 405.53.

For the first time, the IODC conference included a contest on Illumination Design along with the traditional Lens Design problem. The proposed problem aimed to find the best solution for a flux coupling problem with high-efficiency and close to the source to target etendue-matching situation. A total of eight valid solutions were submitted showing a variety of approaches, including rotational reflective optics, free-form surfaces, square-to-cross light pipe converters, projection lenses (from singlets to spherical symmetric non-homegeneous refractive index ones). The winning solution was submitted by Bill Cassarly.

In this paper, detection of system noise in the optical layout for instantaneous phase shifting interferometry is discussed. Experiments were carried out on a diamond turned aluminum surface on the developed interferometer. The results were then compared with results from a commercial profiler to ascertain the uncertainty in the developed system. The uncertainties in the developed system were attributed to the larger measurement area, compared to that of the commercial profiler, and the use of nonstandard reference surface for measurement.

Interferometers accurately measure the difference between two wavefronts, one from a reference surface and the other from an unknown surface. If the reference surface is near-perfect or is accurately known from some other test, then the shape of the unknown surface can be determined. We investigate the case where neither the reference surface nor the surface under test is known. By making multiple modulated measurements where both surfaces are translated and rotated, we obtain sufficient information to reconstruct the figure of both surfaces. We have developed software that provides a maximum likelihood estimation of both surfaces, as well as an assessment of the quality of the reconstruction. This was demonstrated for the measurement of a large flat mirror, using a smaller reference mirror that has significant shape errors.

A null-lens based on a Computer Generated Hologram (CGH) is designed to test the primary off-axis aspherical mirror of the GAIA space telescope. This custom-designed and fabricated CGH includes five zones (null CGH, alignment CGH, and beam-projection CGH) on the same substrate. The optical test configuration is simple and the designed five-zones CGHs can simultaneously provide the aberrated wavefront correction for null tests, CGH alignment with a commercial interferometer, pre-positioning of the mirror under test in a cryogenic chamber, and isolation of the diffraction orders in the test setup. Positioning of the five zones with respect to each other is extremely critical for the success of this custom-made CGH null testing. For this reason, the fringes of all five zones were manufactured on a single photolithographic mask. With INO's special micro-fabrication processes, including its photolithographic, etching, and coating technologies, this 4.5-inch in diameter CGH was successfully made. The RMS wavefront error is estimated at 7.33 nm for the fabricated null CGH.

The reflector's specifications of amplifying section of LMJ need to have spectral high-precision reflectance measurements. The innovative solution proposes to increase the precision of reflectance measurements, and to enable measure of pieces in form like spherical mirrors. This activity has been beginning for months and improvements have been performed.

Optical diagnostics are currently being designed to analyze high-energy density physics experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). Two line-imaging Velocity Interferometer System for Any Reflector (VISAR) interferometers have been fielded to measure shock velocities, breakout times, and emission of targets sized from 1 to 5 millimeters. A 20-cm-diameter, fused silica triplet lens collects light at f/3 from the targets inside the 10-meter-diameter NIF vacuum chamber. VISAR recordings use a 659.5-nm probe laser. By adding a specially coated beam splitter at the interferometer table, light at wavelengths from 540 to 645 nm is split into a thermal-imaging diagnostic. Because fused silica lenses are used in the first triplet relay, the intermediate image planes for different wavelengths separate by considerable distances. A pair of corrector lenses on the interferometer table reunites these separated wavelength planes to provide a good image. Streak cameras perform all VISAR and thermal-imaging recording. Alignment techniques are discussed.

The performance effect of localized slope errors in an optical system will vary based on the system location as well as their magnitude. This paper looks at a method to model and analyze such errors.

This paper deals with the design of aspherics on surfaces with steep curves in systems with very large numerical apertures, and small angular fields of view, with a goal to achieve rigorous axial stigmatism for specified finite axial conjugate points. In lens design, where numerical apertures are moderate, aspheric surface descriptions based on Feder's equation of a conic section with several polynomial terms give satisfactory results to a certain point. For larger numerical apertures plot of aberrations start showing ripples; increasing the number of polynomial terms is no remedy. This problem is similar to Runge's phenomenon and it is probably related to it, but yet not well understood. Alternative surface descriptions have been proposed with apparently some degree of success. Here we propose a method for designing aspheric surfaces in systems with large numerical apertures. In this method the profile of the aspheric is presented as a table of coordinates of key points, the points of intersection of meridian key rays with the surface. Such rays are rigorously corrected for spherical aberration for specified finite conjugates. For tracing other rays through the gap between key points, interpolation with a spline of degree 3 is proposed. Correction with this method has proved satisfactory for certain high aperture examples designed with a small number of key rays. For systems with still higher apertures the number of key rays may have to be increased and the interval between key points reduced accordingly but the degree of the spline is maintained to avoid ripples similar to Runge's phenomenon.

The typical manufacturing errors of optical instruments are tilt, decenter, thickness error, and curvature error. The difference between these errors and the surface irregularity is the randomness of the surface irregularity. But the surface irregularity is not fully random. For example, there is a correlation between deviations on neighboring points. How much the correlation spreads determines the character of the surface irregularity. With the statistical treatment of many sample data, the surface irregularity can be expressed as a linear combination of base functions, [see manuscript for equation] where f₁(x,y)...f_n(x,y) are base functions and a₁...a_n are coefficients. x and y are coordinates perpendicular to the optical axis. f_i(x,y) contains no randomness. a_i's are random variables and independent to each other. If f₁(x,y)...f_n(x,y) are known, the sensitivity control to deviation f_i(x,y) can be performed just as a tilt. If the sensitivity to f₁(x,y)...f_n(x,y) are small, the sensitivity to surface irregularity is promised to be small. This paper contains the proposal of a general method of the sensitivity control to manufacturing errors. The sensitivity control to the surface irregularity is an advanced application of this method. In this method the sensitivity of RMS OPD or MTF is exactly calculated based on the change of the optical path length. The sensitivity is controlled as a target of the optimization. This method is applicable to any sort of manufacturing errors and the control of the sensitivity is reliable even for the large aperture and/or wide angle lenses. In sections 2 and 3 the treatment of the randomness of the surface irregularity is explained. In sections 4 and 5 the method to calculate the sensitivity is explained. In section 6 it is shown how the sensitivity control is performed during the optimization and how effective the sensitivity control to surface irregularity is.

We present a strategy to determine shrinked rotation-symmetric aspheres. First, we approximate nonlinearly a conic based on a direct least squares start-solution with quadratic constraint to a set of datapoints. Afterwards, we smooth aspheres polynomially.

Elliptical lenticular lens arrays are shown to significantly improve image quality. The design methodology is presented and the evolution of advanced tooling necessary to fabricate lenticular lens-array extrusion cylinders is discussed.

An integrated process for design and manufacturing of lens modules is proposed. A high end compact zoom lens is designed and analytic procedure has been developed for the root cause identification of the lens decentration.

We present the results of an Adaptive Optics prototype system used to test the feasibility of active control for corrections of geometrical aberrations of gravitational wave interferometers input laser beam. It is shown that the efficiency of the system in correcting fluctuations extends up to 80 Hz unity gain frequency and that the upper limit of reintroduced noise is within gravitational wave interferometers requirements.

Mathematical and computer modeling of an optical system with a segmented mirror are designed and applied to a telescopic system. The unique feature of this presentation is to establish a center of the segments (sub-aperture arrangement) mathematically that provides six degrees of freedom (i.e. dx, dy, dz, α, β, γ) to each sub-aperture in order to input the mounting errors. To do so, a Visual Basic routine based on CODE V's COM interface is written that makes it possible to model all types of segmentation modes in a fast and convenient way. Segment results are discussed and the image quality of the design based on these results is evaluated in this paper.

This article describes the modeling of the generic spatial heterodyne spectrometer, which resembles a somewhat modified Michelson interferometer. The power spectrum of the input source is determined by performing a one dimensional Fourier transform on the output intensity profile captured by a linear array detector. In order to illustrate the techniques employed in the modeling, an example of a heterodyne interferometer is developed and a comparison undertaken between its performance and that of a conventional spectrometer. Unlike the traditional FTIR system, the heterodyne spectrometer has the very desirable feature of having no moving components.

We proposed a series of orthogonal aberration functions, which is suitable for a microlithographic projection lens. In this paper, general explanation and numbering of the orthogonal aberration functions are reviewed.

In a previous work, the dynamic merit function segmentation has been proved by using the aplanatism condition. We present the merit function dependence on the isoplanatic patch criterion and the different optimization trajectories provided.

A design of aspheric lens is proposed to collimate a light source of Lambertian angular distribution and generate homogenous irradiance. Two numerical solutions were calculated. One used even orders of general aspheres to describe the aspheric surfaces and the performance was evaluated by commercial optical software package Tracepro. Both of high numerical aperture (NA) of 0.79 and good RMS uniformity within 95% of designed area in the second surface of lens could be obtained. The reverse of this lens would be used in focusing and the simulated point spread function (PSF) is almost diffraction-limited. The other fitted both of aspheric surface with radial spline surface and the performance was evaluated by commercial optical software package OSLO. With the radial spline surface representation, the aspheric lens has a higher NA of 0.9; meanwhile, the uniformity was still good enough and PSF is also near diffraction-limited.

An optimization process combining of global optimization algorithm and further optimization treatment is proposed and demonstrated with application to the objective lenses of multiple-wavelength configurations. Based on the optimal variable set of aspheric coefficients obtained by the proposed global optimization strategy, singlet objective lens for different operational configurations, i.e., for CD and DVD, and for DVD and HDDVD, can be deduced.

We present a method to compensate the spherical aberration for any optical system and any object position, with this method the spherical aberration could be zero in several pupil positions at the same time. The aspheric coefficients are used to compensate the spherical aberration and they are calculated solving a system of first grade equations.

The "Polarization Fidelity" Tracking Mount Optical Geometry describes an Az El tracking mount and relay mirror geometry, which maintains a high degree of polarization fidelity for a telescope image, passing through the gimbal, to a stationary sensor package outside the mount. The paper models and compares this geometry to an standard Az El mount using ZEMAX.

In this work, we propose an alternative method for design diffractive lenses controlling the spherical aberration for monochromatic imaging. These diffractive lenses are designed on a rotationally symmetrical surface. Our method calculates the surface profiles for any substrate, for any f-number and any object position. The calculations are exact and an optimization process is not required.

The Jones vector and matrix with step function are introduced to simplify the analysis and design of optical polarization multiplexing system. By use of step functions, one Jones vector can express the alternately polarized light with multiple polarization states, and one Jones matrix can describe multiple polarization conversions. Some optical design examples demonstrate the effectiveness of the Jones vector and matrix with step functions, and they are suitable for the analysis and design of the optical polarization multiplexing system.

In this work we present a method to design compact and anastigmatic telescopes using tree mirrors, in the proposed system two of the mirrors are build in the same substratum to reduce the size of the telescope. The tree conic constants are used to correct the spherical aberration, comma and the astigmatism. In this work the equations are presented for the design to first order, to third order and we propose a method to calculate the conic constants exactly, Using our equations a telescope is designed and the obtained parameters are used in the optical design program, OSLO, to verify the quality of the image.

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have been utilized successfully for various applications such as microdisplays in cell-phones and digital cameras. However, the application of OLEDs for large area signage displays has not yet been established. This paper presents novel design techniques for implementing OLEDs as light sources for signage application. The designs are examined on the basis of signage uniformity, cost and manufacturing complexity. Advantages and limitations of each design are described. It is determined that a trade-off is required to choose a design for implementation. After evaluation and comparison of the designs, the most optimal design is chosen and implemented. Measurement results with the optimal design are described.

Pillow optics are used in signal lighting to control intensity distributions. This paper discusses design considerations for pillow optics, strategies for obtaining particular intensity distributions, and trade-offs between optical function and ease of manufacture.

This paper will discuss transitioning a precision optical system from engineering to a manufacturing process stream.

The high spectral resolution capability of a Fabry-Perot spectrometer (FPS)1,2 has many unique applications. Although the basic theory is well established, a physically accurate end-to-end system model is much desired for understanding the capability of FPS-based systems. This paper describes the optical design of an infrared FPS along with a coherent beam propagation model of the FPS. Parameters that affect FPS signal-to-noise ratio such as FPS reflectivity, absorption, scattering and surface flatness are analyzed. Results from the coherent beam model are compared with endto- end system performance model findings. System performance impact of background noise due to self-emission of the FPS is also discussed. A trade-off study between a single etalon and a double etalon FPS is discussed.

A novel photoelastic stress multiplier is proposed for the first time, which can perform the multiplication operation of two external stresses or forces. The basic structure of this stress multiplier mainly includes two polarizers and two cascaded photoelastic modulators, and theoretical analysis has demonstrated its feasibility. This novel photoelastic stress multiplier will have potential applications in many interdisciplinary fields.

We present a novel foveated imaging system which consists of three major components: a foveated imager, a peripheral imager, and a 2D scanning sub-system. The foveated imager captures a narrow field of view (FOV) with high angular resolution to mimic the foveated region of interest (FRoI), and the peripheral imager captures a wide FOV with low angular resolution to provide the peripheral region for context. The scanning system, implemented with a single-element two-axis MEMS mirror, is capable of sweeping the FRoI across the entire FOV at a maximum speed of 100Hz. A bench prototype and experimental results are presented as verifications of our optical design concept and feasibility.

In nature, the compound eye is the most common micro optical system. Currently there are few artificial compound eye designs incorporated into existing technology. Modeling and fabrication of tapered gradient index polymer lenses are in development for application in a compound array system that operates similar to the neural superposition eye. An artificial adaptation will have multiple optical channels that all have simultaneous access to a large field of view.

The field of optical design has a rich history and a rewarding future. Four leaders in the field will start the International Optical Design Conference with a plenary panel to discuss the history, the current trends, and what the outlook is for this exciting field. Topics will range from lens design in previous years to zoom lens to microlithography to free-form surfaces for illumination to imaging applications.