Experimental Determination of Paraxial Ray Transfer Matrices and Cardinal Points of Complex Optical Systems by Means of Finite Conjugate Imaging.

摘要

The Lineate Imaging Near-ultraviolet Spectrometer (LINUS) uses three complex lens systems to focus an image from distances on the order of several kilometers onto the image intensifier of an ultraviolet camera. These images can then be analyzed to characterize the atmospheric distribution and concentration of sulfur dioxide (502). The lenses purchased for LINUS were corrected for spherical aberrations but due to the lack of detailed knowledge about the lenses their chromatic aberrations could not be readily predicted. The project presented in this thesis was performed with the goal of experimentally quantifying the chromatic aberrations of each of LINUS's lens systems. The matrix method of representing paraxial optical systems was used to determine relationships between object and image distances for different lens systems. These relationships were manipulated to give equations for the matrix elements of the lens system in terms of readily measurable parameters. Once the matrix elements are known, all of the cardinal points can be readily predicted. This method will, in theory, quantify the chromatic aberrations of each lens system. The method was validated with simulations and measurements taken on a lens of known focal length. Finally, the LINUS lens systems were characterized at 220, 300, 334, and 370 nm.