In consideration of the broad range of possible Fresnel lens applications, it is desirable to find a fast way of approximating optical performance that is not specific to a particular lens geometry. This is potentially useful for gaining deeper insight into a lens system and affording accelerated development times. Additionally, a Fresnel lens manufactured using a molded polymer process has limitations on how accurately it can replicate a microstructured prismatic pattern. This is especially true at the prismatic peaks of the part where it is more difficult to completely "fill-out" the moldbase. Inclusion of this effect in performance evaluation is important. Using transmission efficiency (or transmittance) as the metric, a Fresnel lens model which includes imperfect peak replication is sought. The system description will be parameterized so that the formulations are not specific to a particular geometry and can be generally applied. The parameter space will be explored with raytracing and the results compiled for convenient reference.

Date Published: 24 August 2009
PDF: 12 pages
Proc. SPIE 7429, Novel Optical Systems Design and Optimization XII, 74290D (24 August 2009); doi: 10.1117/12.823742

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 7429:
Novel Optical Systems Design and Optimization XII
R. John Koshel; G. Groot Gregory, Editor(s)