Creative Thinking and Computing Machines in Optical Design*

Hopkins, Robert E.; Spencer, Gordon

doi:10.1364/josa.52.000172

Cited by 20 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Computer-based optimization adds an option to those above for finding a new design through an optimization approach 2 – 5 Indeed, much progress in lens design has shifted toward optimization algorithms 6 – 15 …”

Section: Background: Challenge Of Generating Novel Designsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Global design of an off-the-shelf objective lens with no a priori design and macro-enabled optimization

Young¹

2022

Opt. Eng.

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. Synthesis of original optical designs is a challenging endeavor for novice lens designers. It is made more difficult when attempting to design a compound lens from off-the-shelf lenses. All but the simplest compound lenses resist ready analysis or understanding from a first-principles approach of geometric optics; however, many optical design packages include powerful optimization algorithms for both local and global searches. Despite the power of these tools, the initial construction of a starting lens and merit function remains crucial to the effective utilization of the optimizer. A workflow is presented for a generic starting design, construction of the merit function, and the optimization for a compound monochromatic objective lens composed only of commercial off-the-shelf lenses. A protocol is defined for the substitution of off-the-shelf lenses into a design with optical elements of arbitrary shape factor. Additionally, the theory and method for optimization of the shape factor via a macro in Zemax OpticStudio are provided to accelerate the substitution protocol and improve search results. The performance of the objective design is presented both before and after the off-the-shelf lens substitution and performance is compared to the design requirements. A tolerance analysis is performed and sensitivity and yield are discussed. The macro, lens design, merit function, and additional supporting code are provided.

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Section: Background: Challenge Of Generating Novel Designsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Computer-based optimization adds an option to those above for finding a new design through an optimization approach. [2][3][4][5] Indeed, much progress in lens design has shifted toward optimization algorithms. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] An early example of computer-aided lens design is presented by Brixner where he synthesizes a Lister objective.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Global design of an off-the-shelf objective lens with no a priori design and macro-enabled optimization

Young¹

2022

Opt. Eng.

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“…Hopkins had started to use IBM computers to calculate third-order aberrations and for ray trace already in 1953 [17] (Figure 10 ).…”

Section: Diffractive Optical Elements (Does)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Wafer-scale micro-optics fabrication

Voelkel

2012

Advanced Optical Technologies

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Micro-optics is an indispensable key enabling technology for many products and applications today. Probably the most prestigious examples are the diffractive light shaping elements used in high-end DUV lithography steppers. Highly-effi cient refractive and diffractive micro-optical elements are used for precise beam and pupil shaping. Micro-optics had a major impact on the reduction of aberrations and diffraction effects in projection lithography, allowing a resolution enhancement from 250 nm to 45 nm within the past decade. Micro-optics also plays a decisive role in medical devices (endoscopes, ophthalmology), in all laser-based devices and fi ber communication networks, bringing high-speed internet to our homes. Even our modern smart phones contain a variety of micro-optical elements. For example, LED fl ash light shaping elements, the secondary camera, ambient light and proximity sensors. Wherever light is involved, micro-optics offers the chance to further miniaturize a device, to improve its performance, or to reduce manufacturing and packaging costs. Wafer-scale micro-optics fabrication is based on technology established by the semiconductor industry. Thousands of components are fabricated in parallel on a wafer. This review paper recapitulates major steps and inventions in wafer-scale micro-optics technology. The state-of-the-art of fabrication, testing and packaging technology is summarized.

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“…After the merit functions and boundary conditions (constraints) are set, the coefficients for each component in the system are then obtained by minimizing the merit functions using optimization algorithms; this process is simply called optimization 2,6,7 . Optical design through optimization is both an art and a science, and successful designs are believed to have to be accomplished under the guidance of a designer 7,8 . Optimization requires one (or a series of) initial solution(s) that are provided by the designer, and the variety of the optimization results obtained is limited by the initial solution(s) 2,7 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since the introduction of computer-aided optical design, and despite the increasing degree of automation, design without human interaction is generally considered to be impossible. An initial solution must be provided and the optimization must then be performed by designers 2,[6][7][8][9][10] . However, we may imagine that optical design in the future will have the following three characteristics: (1) Human operators will not participate in the design process and will not need to make decisions during the design.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards automatic freeform optics design: coarse and fine search of the three-mirror solution space

2021

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Design of an optical system, whether classic or novel, in the past or the present, requires significant effort from the designer. In addition to design methods and theories, the designer’s skills and experience in optical system design are particularly important, which may require years of practice to learn. The diversity and variety of results are limited because of the difficulty, time, and labor costs required. In this article, we propose an automatic design method for freeform optics that can achieve a diverse range of three-mirror designs. The optical specifications and the design constraints are the only inputs required, and a variety of results can be obtained automatically. The output results have various structures and various optical power distributions with high imaging qualities. By implementing the design method, designers can not only realize an overview of the solution space of the three-mirror freeform system, but can also focus on specific designs.

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Creative Thinking and Computing Machines in Optical Design*

Cited by 20 publications

References 8 publications

Global design of an off-the-shelf objective lens with no a priori design and macro-enabled optimization

Global design of an off-the-shelf objective lens with no a priori design and macro-enabled optimization

Wafer-scale micro-optics fabrication

Towards automatic freeform optics design: coarse and fine search of the three-mirror solution space

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