Athermalization of dual-waveband infrared systems containing diffractive optical elements via optical-digital joint...

Area of Science:

• Optical Engineering
• Infrared Technology
• Diffractive Optics

Background:

• Athermal design for dual-waveband infrared systems is challenging due to material limitations.
• Existing designs often suffer from increased volume and weight.
• Low diffraction efficiency in optical elements impacts system performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an athermal design for cooled dual-waveband infrared systems.
• To reduce the size and weight of infrared systems.
• To mitigate the effects of low diffraction efficiency on system performance.

Main Methods:

• Integration of single-layer diffractive elements for size and weight reduction.
• Application of optical-digital joint methods to overcome low diffraction efficiency.
• Incorporation of temperature polychromatic integral diffraction efficiency and temperature integral wavelength weight into the point spread function (PSF) model for athermalization.

Main Results:

• Successful athermal design and processing of a cooled dual-waveband infrared system.
• Demonstrated elimination of the impact of low diffraction efficiency through algorithm processing.
• Experimental verification of the proposed athermal design.

Conclusions:

• The proposed method enables effective athermalization for dual-waveband infrared systems.
• The integration of diffractive elements and optical-digital processing offers a viable solution for compact and lightweight infrared systems.
• Experimental results validate the feasibility and performance of the developed design.