Wide field-of-view NURBS-based freeform afocal telescope

James B. Johnson; Christopher D. Roll; Amanda Fontaine; Todd G. Ulmer; Jeffrey M. Roth

doi:10.1117/12.2663846

14 June 2023 Wide field-of-view NURBS-based freeform afocal telescope

James B. Johnson, Christopher D. Roll, Amanda Fontaine, Todd G. Ulmer, Jeffrey M. Roth

Proceedings Volume 12530, Advanced Optics for Imaging Applications: UV through LWIR VIII; 1253009 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2663846
Event: SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing, 2023, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

An afocal freeform telescope has been prototyped at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. The design leverages an upgraded version of the Laboratory’s FANO design code to produce designs in afocal-space rather than imaging-space. The FANO code is unique, as it optimizes the surfaces using a Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline (NURBS) description rather than a polynomial-based equation. This approach allows the mirrors to take the most optimal shape without the limit of number of polynomial terms often hard-coded into commercial design software. Design comparisons with polynomial-based approaches are discussed showing improved performance when designing with NURBS shapes. Test results from the 150-mm diameter, 6x afocal magnification, 4° field-of-view prototype unit operating in the near-infrared band are shown.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

James B. Johnson, Christopher D. Roll, Amanda Fontaine, Todd G. Ulmer, and Jeffrey M. Roth "Wide field-of-view NURBS-based freeform afocal telescope", Proc. SPIE 12530, Advanced Optics for Imaging Applications: UV through LWIR VIII, 1253009 (14 June 2023); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2663846

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