Design of freeform refractive lenses is known to be a difficult inverse problem. But solutions, if available, can be very useful, especially in devices required to redirect and reshape the radiance of the source into an output irradiance redistributed over a given target according to a prescribed pattern. In this report we present results of theoretical and numerical analysis of refractive lenses designed with the Supporting Quadric Method. It is shown that such freeform lenses have a particular simple geometry and qualitatively their diffractive properties are comparable with rotationally symmetric lenses designed with classical methods.

Date Published: 7 September 2016
PDF: 4 pages
Proc. SPIE 9955, Nonimaging Optics: Efficient Design for Illumination and Solar Concentration XIII—Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Nonimaging Optics, 99550B (7 September 2016); doi: 10.1117/12.2238025

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9955:
Nonimaging Optics: Efficient Design for Illumination and Solar Concentration XIII—Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Nonimaging Optics
Roland Winston; Jeffrey M. Gordon, Editor(s)