Multiscale Lens Design

The design files linked on this page refer to the reference design described in David J. Brady and Nathan Hagen, "Multiscale lens design," Opt. Express 17, 10659-10674 (2009) http://www.opticsinfobase.org/abstract.cfm?URI=oe-17-13-10659

Multiscale lens design separates a lens system into single-aperture objective optics and multiaperture field processing optics. The figure shown below shows (a) a conventional single aperture design; (b) a multiple aperture design, as applied in scanners, digital superresolution, and wide field cameras; and (c) a multiscale design incorporating a multi-aperture lens array between the objective lens and the focal plane. Conventional lens design methods use optical elements which operate only on the full optical field, resulting in some of the familiar trade-offs in field-of-view and f-number. Multiscale design chooses to process the field-dependent aberrations locally rather than globally, thereby easing design constraints. Not only can this allow for wider FOV imagers or improved resolution in wide field systems, but can also be used to reduce system volume, reduce cost, ease detector mosaicking, and allow for 3D imaging.

As an example we can consider a simple f/8 Wollaston landscape lens as the objective. Conventional design, using a flat or a spherical focal surface, are illustrated below, together with their corresponding Zemax design files.

Wollaston landscape lens.ZMX	Wollaston landscape lens curved FPA.ZMX

The objective lens design used for the multiscale systems is different from the conventional design, allowing field curvature and astigmatism to increase in order to suppress spherical aberration. The resulting layout is shown below.

Wollaston lens for multiscale.ZMX

The corresponding multiscale versions are shown below. The Zemax design files for the planar case, and for the locally planar version of the curved design, use a single multiconfiguration setup. The full curved multiscale design, however, employs a separate file for each lenslet, and so the complete set of files are provided as a zipped folder. Note that the folder separates the design files themselves from a second set of "Evaluation files". These latter use different field angles, and do not employ solves to locate the lenses relative to their chief rays, in order to evaluate the spotsizes.

MultiscalePlanar.ZMX	MultiscaleLocal.ZMX
	MultiscaleCurved.zip