Birefringent effects in plastic optics

Abstract

Plastic optics are seeing increased usage in various imaging and non-imaging applications due to its low cost, ease of manufacturing and complex parts assembly. Non-imaging applications were the initial foray for plastic optics as the aberration and thermal effects were not important. However, recently there is an increased usage in imaging applications of plastic optics due to ease of manufacturing especially in aspheric profiles. This has brought aberrations to the forefront and more importantly birefringence effects have become critical as well.