Home Simulation of imperfections in plastic lenses – transferring local refractive index changes into surface shape modifications
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Simulation of imperfections in plastic lenses – transferring local refractive index changes into surface shape modifications

  • Josep Arasa EMAIL logo , Carles Pizarro and Patricia Blanco
Published/Copyright: July 6, 2016
Become an author with De Gruyter Brill
Author Information
Advanced Optical Technologies
From the journal Advanced Optical Technologies Volume 5 Issue 3

Abstract

Injection molded plastic lenses have continuously improved their performance regarding optical quality and nowadays are as usual as glass lenses in image forming devices. However, during the manufacturing process unavoidable fluctuations in material density occur, resulting in local changes in the distribution of refractive index, which degrade the imaging properties of the polymer lens. Such material density fluctuations correlate to phase delays, which opens a path for their mapping. However, it is difficult to transfer the measured variations in refractive index into conventional optical simulation tool. Thus, we propose a method to convert the local variations in refractive index into local changes of one surface of the lens, which can then be described as a free-form surface, easy to introduce in conventional simulation tools. The proposed method was tested on a commercial gradient index (GRIN) lens for a set of six different object positions, using the MTF sagittal and tangential cuts to compare the differences between the real lens and a lens with homogenous refractive index, and the last surface converted into a free-form shape containing the internal refractive index changes. The same procedure was used to reproduce the local refractive index changes of an injected plastic lens with local index changes measured using an in-house built polariscopic arrangement, showing the capability of the method to provide successful results.

Keywords: free-form surfaces; index variations; optomechanical design; plastic lenses; polarization

Acknowledgments

This work has been financed by the ‘Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad’ grant DPI2012-38647-C02-01.

References

[1] Thorlabs, generic optical supplier, Available at: http://www.thorlabs.de/newgrouppage9.cfm?objectgroup_id=16.Search in Google Scholar

[2] G-S plastic Optics, plastic optic supplier, Available at: http://gsoptics.com/product/index.php.Search in Google Scholar

[3] K. Matsusaka, S. Ozawa, R. Yoshida, T. Yuasa and Y. Souma, Proc. SPIE 6502, 650203 (2007).10.1117/12.702712Search in Google Scholar

[4] Ledil, plastic optic supplier, Available at: http://www.ledil.fi/.Search in Google Scholar

[5] Neotronic, illumination supplier, Available at: http://www.neotronic.com/EN/kathod-lenses-for-power-leds.html.Search in Google Scholar

[6] Carclo, plastic optic supplier, Available at: http://www.carclo-optics.com/.Search in Google Scholar

[7] P. Obreja, P. Cristea, A. Dinescu and R. Rebigan, Proc. Eur. Opt. Soc. Annu. Meet. 2010 (EOSAM 2010) (Parc Floral de Paris, France, 2010).Search in Google Scholar

[8] D. Cristea, P. Obreja, A. Dinescu, G. Konstantinidis, R. Rebigan et al., Proceedings of 4M Conference,- eds. B.Fillon, C.Khan-Malek, S. Dimov, Research Publishing, 263–266 (2010), doi:10.3850/978-981-08-6555-9.168.Search in Google Scholar

[9] M. Kusko, C. Kusko and D. Cristea, 2nd EOS Conference on Manufacturing of Optical Components (EOSMOC 2011) at the World of Photonics Congress, Munich, Germany, 23–25 May 2011.Search in Google Scholar

[10] P. T. Tang, R. Sobiecki, M. Hansen, C. Ravn and C. Baum, ICOMM proceedings, Tokyo, March 2011, pp. 431–435.Search in Google Scholar

[11] H. Suhara, Appl. Opt. 41, 5317–5325 (2002).10.1364/AO.41.005317Search in Google Scholar PubMed

[12] Y.-L. Chen, H.-C. Hsieh, W.-T. Wu, W.-Y. Chang and D.-C. Su, Appl. Opt. 49, 6888–6892 (2010).10.1364/AO.49.006888Search in Google Scholar PubMed

[13] J. Arasa, D. Mayershofer and J. Romero, Proc. SPIE 9525, ISBN: 9781628416855 (2015).10.1117/12.2182650Search in Google Scholar

[14] N. Domínguez, D. Mayershofer, C. Garcia and J. Arasa, Opt. Eng. 55, 024102 (2016).10.1117/1.OE.55.2.024102Search in Google Scholar

[15] G. Farin, ‘Curves and Surfaces for CAGD’ 5th ed. (Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco, 2002).Search in Google Scholar

[16] P. Jester, C. Menke and K. Urban, Appl. Opt. 50, 822–828 (2011).10.1364/AO.50.000822Search in Google Scholar PubMed

[17] B. Narasimhan, P. Benitez, J. C. Miñano, J. Chaves, D. Grabovickic, et al., Proc. SPIE. 9629, Optical Systems Design 2015: Illumination Optics IV, 96290C. (2015) 10.1117/12.2190882.Search in Google Scholar

[18] G. Farin and D. Hansford, ‘The essentials of CAGD’ (AK Peters, Ltd. Publishers 2000).10.1201/9781439864111Search in Google Scholar

[19] LightPath Technologies, 2603 Challenger Tech Court, Suite 100, Orlando, USA, Available at: http://www.lightpath.com/.Search in Google Scholar

[20] Zemax, LLC, 10230 NE Points Dr. Suite 540, Kirkland, WA 98033 USA, Available at: http://www.zemax.com/.Search in Google Scholar

[21] S. C. Chapra and R P. Canale, ‘Numerical methods for engineers’ 6th ed. (McGraw-Hill, New York, 2010).Search in Google Scholar

[22] C. de Boor. ‘A practical guide to splines’ (Springer Verlag, New York, 2001).Search in Google Scholar

[23] J. A. Nelder and R. Mead, Comput. J. 7, 308–313 (1965).10.1093/comjnl/7.4.308Search in Google Scholar

[24] Y. S. Kim and ‘Refined simplex method for data fitting’ Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems VI, A.S.P. Conference Series, Vol. 125, Eds. Gareth Hunt and H. E. Payne (1997) p. 206.Search in Google Scholar

Received: 2016-4-15
Accepted: 2016-6-7
Published Online: 2016-7-6
Published in Print: 2016-6-1

©2016 THOSS Media & De Gruyter

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Cover and Frontmatter
  2. Community
  3. News from the European Optical Society
  4. Conference Notes
  5. Conference Calendar
  6. Topical issue: Aspheric optics
  7. Editorial
  8. Aspheric optics: from design to manufacturing and aspheric metrology
  9. Tutorial
  10. Exploring the unlimited possibilities of modular aspheric Gauss to top-hat beam shaping
  11. Review Articles
  12. Metrology for the production process of aspheric lenses
  13. Breathing life into aspheric dreams
  14. Research Articles
  15. Ray selection for optimization of rotationally symmetric systems
  16. Simulation of imperfections in plastic lenses – transferring local refractive index changes into surface shape modifications
  17. Research Article
  18. Telecentric line scanning system based on a ring surface mirror for inline processes
https://doi.org/10.1515/aot-2016-0024
Keywords for this article
free-form surfaces; index variations; optomechanical design; plastic lenses; polarization

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Cover and Frontmatter
  2. Community
  3. News from the European Optical Society
  4. Conference Notes
  5. Conference Calendar
  6. Topical issue: Aspheric optics
  7. Editorial
  8. Aspheric optics: from design to manufacturing and aspheric metrology
  9. Tutorial
  10. Exploring the unlimited possibilities of modular aspheric Gauss to top-hat beam shaping
  11. Review Articles
  12. Metrology for the production process of aspheric lenses
  13. Breathing life into aspheric dreams
  14. Research Articles
  15. Ray selection for optimization of rotationally symmetric systems
  16. Simulation of imperfections in plastic lenses – transferring local refractive index changes into surface shape modifications
  17. Research Article
  18. Telecentric line scanning system based on a ring surface mirror for inline processes
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 7.9.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/aot-2016-0024/pdf
Scroll to top button