Teresa A. Fritz

Diffractive Optics For Broadband Infrared Imagers: Design Examples

Two optical designs for infrared imagers, a fast (F/1) staring system and a slower (F/2.4) scanning system, are discussed to demonstrate the advantages and limitations of using hybrid diffractive/refractive elements as replacements for conventional elements. Each case is compared to a conventional design of all spherical elements satisfying a specific set of hypothetical requirements for resolution, field-of-view, and spectral bandwidth (8-12 μm). We find that as much as a 33 percent reduction in the number of elements can be achieved in the slower system using hybrid elements. For the fast system, spherochromatism greatly limits the performance of the hybrid design. A table is presented showing the trades among F-number, field-of-view, bandwidth, and materials needed to maintain constant resolution in the fast system.

Application and demonstration of diffractive optics for head-mounted displays

We present an overview of diffractive optics technology and the advantages this technology offers when applied to head-mounted displays (HMD). We show especially the impact on weight reduction when diffractive elements are used to correct chromatic aberrations in full-color HMDs. We discuss the effect of higher diffractive orders on image quality and show how to model these effects. Finally, we present the results of a demonstration of a diffractive element in a conventional monochromatic HMD, compare the performance of the hybrid and conventional systems, and demonstrate the validity of our model.

Diffractive optics in an ultraviolet attitude sensor

A diffractive optical surface was inserted in a wide field of view ultraviolet sensor to increase the aperture and waveband of the system with no increase in size or weight. The diffractive optical surface was etched in sapphire using binary optics fabrication techniques.