High-order aspherics: The SMS nonimaging design method applied to imaging optics

摘要

The simultaneous multiple surface (SMS) method has been used to design nonimaging devices, such as solar concentrators and collimators, which work near the thermodynamic limit at highest efficiencies. The very high compactness of these devices is obtained through the simultaneous design of two high-order (above 30~(th)) aspheric surfaces. In imaging optics, low-order aspheric surfaces were introduced to correct Seidel aberrations. The ease with which the SMS method calculates higher-order aspheric surfaces offers great advantages in imaging design.rnThe SMS method can design N rotationally-symmetric surfaces that, by definition, form sharp images of N one-parameter subsets of rays. The design strategy consists in finding the best configuration of these subsets of rays in phase-space, one that ensures that image-quality specifications will be met by all non-design rays. As a first example of an SMS imaging device, a new video projection optics system is presented, featuring extremely short throw distance, high compactness and wide angle projection.