Optical System design

Abstract

Optical design is a convenient phrase that covers the whole range of activities required for the creation of an optical system. Optical design usually begins with simple considerations of the spatial envelope of a new lens -finding the object/ image distances and sizes, aperture, focal length etc. The designer must then find a suitable starting design, either derived from basic theory, from his experience or from a design library. This start point will need to be analysed and understood and then optimised to match the requirements of the task in hand [1]. Almost always, optimisation involves repeated simultaneous multi-variable adjustments, and this therefore requires sophisticated software tools as following described in this article.

Designed to Disperse

“…The actual resolution of a real spectrometer will be much less due to aberrations introduced by the system, and will require proper raytracing in a full lens design program, such as WinLens TM 3D [8,9].…”