Analytic-domain lens design with proximate ray tracing.

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Computational Design
• Optical Engineering

Background:

• Traditional optical design relies on discrete ray tracing, limiting direct analytical insight into system parameter dependencies.
• Existing methods often provide limited information for comprehensive system optimization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an alternative optical design methodology operating in the analytical domain.
• To enable optical designers to work directly with rays as analytical functions of system parameters.
• To provide new information for system optimization not typically available.

Main Methods:

• Generalization of the proximate ray tracing technique to obtain analytical dependence of rays.
• Development of a method to analyze rays as analytical functions of system parameters.
• Expansion of the procedure for asymmetric systems and arbitrary approximation orders.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated an alternative to discrete ray tracing in optical design.
• Achieved analytical dependence of rays on system parameters.
• Illustrated the method's performance with three lens design examples, including asymmetric systems.

Conclusions:

• The developed analytical approach offers a powerful alternative for optical design and optimization.
• This method provides deeper insights into ray behavior and system parameter influence.
• The technique is versatile, applicable to complex and asymmetric optical systems.