Engineering a coaxial visible/infrared imaging system based on monolithic multisurface optics.

Area of Science:

• Optical Engineering
• Imaging Systems
• Optomechanical Design

Background:

• Monolithic multisurface optics offer inherent alignment stability for coaxial systems.
• All-reflective designs are crucial for broadband visible/infrared imaging.
• Previous systems faced challenges in precise fabrication and alignment verification.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and fabricate an all-reflective coaxial visible/infrared imaging system using monolithic multisurface optics.
• To develop a novel measurement method for monolithic optics.
• To analyze and minimize wavefront aberrations in the system.

Main Methods:

• Utilized single-point diamond turning (SPDT) to machine monolithic optical modules.
• Employed a computer-generated hologram (CGH) for simultaneous shape and position metrology.
• Applied Zernike annular polynomials to analyze wavefront aberrations.
• Developed a method to subtract surface/position errors and estimate misalignment-induced aberrations.

Main Results:

• Successfully fabricated and assembled coaxial visible/infrared imaging systems.
• Achieved an estimated concentricity of approximately 3 μm between monolithic modules.
• Demonstrated the ability to capture and fuse coaxial visible and infrared images for enhanced detail.

Conclusions:

• The proposed monolithic multisurface optics approach provides a stable and accurate solution for coaxial visible/infrared imaging.
• The CGH-based metrology is effective for characterizing complex monolithic optical components.
• Image fusion of visible and infrared data significantly enhances imaging details.