Spectacle lens design with double aspheric surfaces using differentiable ray tracing.

Area of Science:

• Optical Engineering
• Computational Optics
• Ophthalmic Optics

Background:

• Traditional spectacle lens design methods are complex and inefficient.
• Existing methods often rely on Coddington equations or classical optimization algorithms.
• There is a need for more efficient and accurate lens design methodologies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose an efficient spectacle lens design method using differentiable ray tracing (DRT).
• To compare the performance of DRT against traditional optimization algorithms (SA, PSO, GA).
• To analyze the impact of vertex distance variation on lens design.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of differentiable ray tracing (DRT) for lens design.
• Computation of merit function derivatives using automatic differentiation.
• Optimization of a -12D lens design.

Main Results:

• The DRT method demonstrated superior optimization efficiency compared to SA, PSO, and GA.
• DRT achieved better edge thickness and mean power error.
• Lower distortion was observed with DRT compared to SA and PSO.
• The study analyzed the effects of vertex distance variation and spatial distribution of lens parameters.

Conclusions:

• Differentiable ray tracing (DRT) offers a more efficient and effective approach to spectacle lens design.
• DRT outperforms traditional optimization methods in key performance metrics.
• Understanding vertex distance effects is crucial for optimal lens design.