Over the past year, the authors have been editors on a special section of the SPIE peer-reviewed journal Optical Engineering focused on education and training of a global workforce in optical instrumentation and lens/illumination design. In this presentation, we seek to provide an overview of the selected papers in the special section and discuss the highlights of optics education innovation occurring at academic institutions around the world.
Guest Editors Nick Takaki, Alexander Lin, Fatima Toor, and Matthew E.L. Jungwirth introduce the Special Section on Education and Training in Optical Instrumentation and Lens/Illumination.
The Abbe Sine Condition is a simple and perhaps too-often overlooked principle with important real-world implications, even in the realm of modern optics and fast computers.
Ultrafast applications require not only that the photons arrive at the same place, but also at the same time. We describe an optimization merit function to achieve this.
Lens mounting details are important in passive athermalization. We present a 10-element lens that is athermalized with one mounting structure (seats), and yet performs poorly over temperature if assembled using a different mounting structure (spacers).
Freeform systems benefit from using base surfaces that are conics. We present two approaches that leverage the unique properties of conical optics that allow for near-null testability in component metrology and system assembly.
In this paper, we show, via a design example, how to leverage the parameters of a base off-axis conic to design freeform optical systems using the full-field display driven aberration-based design method discussed in [1]. Off-axis conic sections are often considered when designing unobscured or non-axisymmetric systems, including as base surfaces for freeform optics [2-8]. Likewise, design methods that use nodal aberration theory and full-field displays to gain insight into the aberrations of freeform systems have been demonstrated to be effective at generating starting points and performing designs (e.g., [1, 9-11]). However, in these aberration-based design methods, a central consideration is the correction of coma and astigmatism, which often involves the introduction of orthogonal polynomial astigmatism and coma terms (i.e.,, Z5/Z6 and Z7/Z8 for the Fringe Zernike polynomials). These terms are often major contributors to freeform departures, thus reducing or eliminating the need for orthogonal polynomial astigmatism and coma may improve interferometric testability estimates based on the magnitude of freeform departures. Consequently, in this paper, we leverage the parameters of base off-axis conics to follow the aberration-based design method without the use of additional orthogonal polynomial astigmatism and coma terms. While an off-axis conic is not exactly equivalent to a sphere plus astigmatism and coma, it is shown via a design example that re-designing with base off-axis conic parameters from the start can yield a new design that achieves equivalent optical performance without orthogonal polynomial astigmatism and coma. When these design methods are coupled with design methods aimed at reducing surface departures, significant improvements in interferometric testability estimates can be achieved, including when compared to fitting freeform surfaces designed with base spheres with the best-fit off-axis conic after optimization. For comparison, the design study in this paper is conducted twice: once using base off-axis conics with Fringe Zernike sag departure terms (excluding Zernike astigmatism and coma), and once using base spheres with Fringe Zernike sag departure terms (including Zernike astigmatism and coma).
The UNESCO International Day of Light, 16 May, serves to highlight the critical and diverse roles that light plays in our daily lives. Light has specific meaning to each local community, and finding that which has the greatest impact can be challenging. In the proper context, local festivals serve as a fertile ground for light appreciation, bringing together diverse local groups. We provide the devices for exploration of colorimetry, imaging, and color matching demonstrations at an otherwise social local festival. Methods of assembly and planning for the multi-day display are outlined.
Freeform prism systems are commonly used for head mounted display systems for augmented, virtual, and mixed reality. They have a wide variety of applications from scientific uses for medical visualization to defense for flight helmet information. The advantage of the freeform prism design over other designs is their ability to have a large field of view and low f-number while maintaining a small and light weight form factor. Current designs typically employ a homogeneous material such as polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). Using a GRIN material gives the designer extra degrees-of-freedom by allowing a variable material refractive index within the prism. The addition of the GRIN material allows for light to bend within the material instead of only reflecting off the surfaces. This work looks at implementing a freeform gradient-index (GRIN) into a freeform prism design to improve performance, increase field of view (FOV), and decrease form factor by the use of 3D printable polymers. A prism design with freeform GRIN is designed with a FOV of 45°, eye relief of 18.25 mm, eyebox of 8 mm, and performance greater than 10% at 50 lp/mm.
In this paper, two freeform prism combiner designs with different geometries were studied. The first design, whose geometry is driven by the need for total-internal-refraction, achieves optical performance suitable for use in AR/VR applications, but involves highly complex surfaces and highly non-uniform performance. The second design, which removes the total-internal-refraction requirement, adopts a modified geometry which enables significantly improved aberration correction potential. The nodal-aberration-theory based design process is shown for both prism designs, and the optical performance of each design was analyzed. Performance exceeds 10% MTF at 50lp/mm over centered and decentered 3mm effective subpupils, evaluated at nine different positions within an 8mm diameter eyebox.
Orthogonal polynomials offer several mathematical properties for describing freeform optical surfaces. To leverage these properties, their interaction with variables such as tip and tilt, base sphere and conic variables, and packaging variables must be understood.
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