540-degree deflecting lens and its general version.

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Metamaterials
• Optical Engineering

Background:

• Conventional optical lenses typically deflect light by specific angles.
• The development of specialized optical instruments with unique light-manipulating capabilities is an ongoing area of research.
• Absolute instruments, which possess self-imaging properties, are of significant interest in optical design.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate a novel isotropic optical device, the 540-degree deflecting lens.
• To derive the gradient refractive index expression and generalize its properties.
• To explore the self-imaging characteristic of this new class of absolute instruments.

Main Methods:

• Derivation of the gradient refractive index expression.
• Generalization of the lens design using conformal mapping for one-dimensional space.
• Introduction of a combined lens: the generalized inside-out 540-degree deflecting lens.
• Ray tracing and wave simulations to validate device characteristics.

Main Results:

• Successful demonstration of the 540-degree deflecting lens with symmetric refractive index.
• Obtained and generalized the expression for its gradient refractive index.
• Identified the device as an optical absolute instrument with self-imaging capabilities.
• Validated the performance of the lens and its generalized version through simulations.

Conclusions:

• The study introduces a new type of absolute instrument, the 540-degree deflecting lens.
• The findings expand the family of optical absolute instruments.
• The research offers novel concepts for the design of advanced optical systems and devices.