Off-axis three-mirror reflective zoom system based on freeform surface

Abstract

A reflective optical system is not affected by chromatic aberration, so it has a wide range of applications. Based on the design theory of reflective zoom system with three mirrors, this paper presents the simulation, optimization, and image quality evaluation of the traditional off-axis three-mirror zoom system and freeform off-axis three-mirror reflective zoom system.. In these systems, the optical design was aided by software CODEV. Through the analysis of aberrations and structural performance for the traditional aspherical off-axis three-mirror system, the freeform surface was introduced to the tertiary mirror to improve the balance capacity for optical aberrations. This off-axis three-mirror reflective zoom system based on freeform surface could provide technical reference to the study of such systems.

Keywords

off-axis system design / three-mirror reflective zoom system / freeform surface / optical design

References

[1] Zhu J, Hou W, Zhang X D, Jin G F. Design of a low F-number freeform off-axis three-mirror system with rectangular field-of-view. Journal of Optics, 2015, 17(1): 015605

[2] Fuerschbach K, Rolland J P, Thompson K P. Theory of aberration fields for general optical systems with freeform surfaces. Optics Express, 2014, 22(22): 26585–26606

[3] Xue D L, Zheng L G, Zhang F. Off-axis three-mirror system based on freeform mirror. Optics and Precision Engineering, 2011, 19(12): 2814–2815

[4] Zhenrong Z, Xiang H, Xu L. Freeform surface lens for LED uniform illumination. Applied Optics, 2009, 48(35): 6627–6634

[5] Chen E G, Yu F H. Design of LED-based reflector-array module for specific illuminance distribution. Optics Communications, 2013, 289: 19–27

[6] Cheng D, Wang Y, Xu C, Song W, Jin G. Design of an ultra-thin near-eye display with geometrical waveguide and freeform optics. Optics Express, 2014, 22(17): 20705–20719

[7] Yang B, Wang Y T. Computer-aided design of freeform reflector. Acta Optica Sinica, 2004, 24(6): 721–724

[8] Cheng D W, Wang Y T, Chang J, Liu Y, Xu K. Design of lightweight and wide field-of-view HMD system with free-form-surface prism. Hongwai Yu Jiguang Gongcheng, 2007, 36(3): 309–311 (in Chinese)

[9] Zhan T C, Wang Y T, Chang J, Talha M M. Design of reflective zoom system with three mirrors. Acta Optica Sinica, 2010, 30(10): 3034–3038 (in Chinese)

[10] Zhang T C, Wang Y T, Chang J. Design of unobscured reflective zoom system with three mirrors. Chinese Optics Letters, 2010, 8(7): 701–705

Acknowledgements

This research work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61178041)

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2015 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg