The use of large diameter diffractive and aspheric Silicon elements for 3-5μ IR lens assemblies have many advantages for the user, such as low weight and ow raw material costs. However, difficulties in diamond turning large diameter Silicon lenses, resulting in low quality optical surfaces and high manufacturing costs, practically prevented the use of these elements. Recent advances in diamond turning manufacturing and measurements technologies enable now the design and manufacture of large diameter diffractive and aspheric Silicon elements with high optical quality and reasonable costs. We will present some lens designs and measured performance of these Silicon elements.

Date Published: 23 January 2003
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 4820, Infrared Technology and Applications XXVIII, (23 January 2003); doi: 10.1117/12.453563

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 4820:
Infrared Technology and Applications XXVIII
Bjorn F. Andresen; Gabor F. Fulop; Marija Strojnik, Editor(s)