GB2074751A - Eyepiece or collimation lens system - Google Patents
Eyepiece or collimation lens system Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- GB2074751A GB2074751A GB8107757A GB8107757A GB2074751A GB 2074751 A GB2074751 A GB 2074751A GB 8107757 A GB8107757 A GB 8107757A GB 8107757 A GB8107757 A GB 8107757A GB 2074751 A GB2074751 A GB 2074751A
- Authority
- GB
- United Kingdom
- Prior art keywords
- lens elements
- lens
- real image
- refractive
- eyepiece
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Granted
Links
- 210000001747 pupil Anatomy 0.000 claims abstract description 16
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 13
- 230000003287 optical effect Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 13
- 230000005855 radiation Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 6
- 229910052732 germanium Inorganic materials 0.000 claims abstract description 5
- GNPVGFCGXDBREM-UHFFFAOYSA-N germanium atom Chemical compound [Ge] GNPVGFCGXDBREM-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims abstract description 5
- PFNQVRZLDWYSCW-UHFFFAOYSA-N (fluoren-9-ylideneamino) n-naphthalen-1-ylcarbamate Chemical compound C12=CC=CC=C2C2=CC=CC=C2C1=NOC(=O)NC1=CC=CC2=CC=CC=C12 PFNQVRZLDWYSCW-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims abstract description 4
- 230000003595 spectral effect Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 4
- 230000004075 alteration Effects 0.000 description 3
- 238000000926 separation method Methods 0.000 description 3
- 230000005540 biological transmission Effects 0.000 description 2
- LYQFWZFBNBDLEO-UHFFFAOYSA-M caesium bromide Chemical compound [Br-].[Cs+] LYQFWZFBNBDLEO-UHFFFAOYSA-M 0.000 description 2
- 230000000694 effects Effects 0.000 description 2
- SBIBMFFZSBJNJF-UHFFFAOYSA-N selenium;zinc Chemical compound [Se]=[Zn] SBIBMFFZSBJNJF-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- 241000234479 Narcissus Species 0.000 description 1
- 230000015556 catabolic process Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000005387 chalcogenide glass Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000011248 coating agent Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000000576 coating method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000006731 degradation reaction Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000004519 manufacturing process Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000005259 measurement Methods 0.000 description 1
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G02B13/00—Optical objectives specially designed for the purposes specified below
- G02B13/14—Optical objectives specially designed for the purposes specified below for use with infrared or ultraviolet radiation
- G02B13/146—Optical objectives specially designed for the purposes specified below for use with infrared or ultraviolet radiation with corrections for use in multiple wavelength bands, such as infrared and visible light, e.g. FLIR systems
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G02B13/00—Optical objectives specially designed for the purposes specified below
- G02B13/14—Optical objectives specially designed for the purposes specified below for use with infrared or ultraviolet radiation
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G02B27/00—Optical systems or apparatus not provided for by any of the groups G02B1/00 - G02B26/00, G02B30/00
- G02B27/30—Collimators
Landscapes
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Optics & Photonics (AREA)
- Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
- Toxicology (AREA)
- Telescopes (AREA)
- Lenses (AREA)
Abstract
An eyepiece or collimation lens system (22) is formed by three optically- powered lens elements (A,B,C) aligned on a common optical axis (23) and arranged to accept radiation in the infrared wavelength region from a real image (I) and provide a bundle of parallel rays at an exit pupil ( phi ) each of the lens elements (A, B, C) is positively powered and made of a material which has a useful spectral bandpass in the infrared wavelength region and the refractive surface (6) of lens element (C) which lies adjacent the real image (I) is flat whereas the other refractive surfaces, (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) of the lens elements (A, B, C) are substantially spherical. A graticule may be mounted on or adjacent the flat refractive surface (6) and each refractive surface may be anti- reflection coated. Conveniently lens element (c) is made of zinc selenide whereas lens elements (A, B) are each made of germanium. <IMAGE>
Description
SPECIFICATION
Collimation lens system
This invention relates to an eyepiece or collimation lens system for use in a telescope or a microscope.
The arrival of high performance 'forward looking infrared systems' (commonly known by the acronym -FLIR) has led to a demand for high performance afocal telescopes suitable for use with the FLIR system.
To achieve this a high performance eyepiece lens system and a high performance complimentary
objective lens system are required. Various forms of such eyepiece lens systems have been previously proposed but the practical requirement for compactness (i.e. low f-number) has imposed a requirement for
low field and pupil aberrations.
According to the present invention there is provided an eyepiece or collimation lens system formed by
three optically-powered lens elements aligned on a common optical axis and arranged to accept radiation in
the infrared wavelength region from a real image and to provide a bundle of parallel rays at an exit pupil,
each said lens element being positively powered and made of a material which has a useful spectral
bandpass in the infrared wavelength region, the refractive surface of the lens element adjacent said real
image being flat and the five other refractive surfaces of said lens elements being substantially spherical.
Because the lens system of the present invention has only three lens elements the system is optically and
mechanically simple; with five refractive surfaces substantially spherical and the other refractive surface
being flat, the lens elements are easy to manufacture and the system can be arranged with the real image
lying on the flat refractive surface which can be advantageous; and because the eyepiece system can be
designed with low pupil aberrations and a near diffraction limited performance over the field, it can be
attached to a suitable objective lens system to provide a compact high performance afocal telescope.
The lens element nearest the real image surface may be made of zinc selenide whereas each of the other
two lens elements may be made of germanium (which has a V-value of 1182 and a refractive index of 4.003)
all of which materials have a useful spectral bandpass in the 3-13 micron infrared wavelength region.
Alternatively, the lens element nearest the real image may be made from one of the other materials recited in
Table Ill all of which have bandpasses in the 3-13 micron region. However if the aforementioned lens
element has the real image near to or on one of its surfaces it is important that the homogeneity quality of
the material from which this lens element is composed, is good enough to ensure that high optical
performance is achieved. All 3 lens elements may be fixedly mounted, the eyepiece system being insensitive
to moderately large ambient temperature variations. However, any combination of one or two or three lens
elements may be movable along the optical axis as a result of which the system can be compensated for
large ambient temperature variations.Where it is desired to include a graticule in the system this may be
supported by a plane-parallel plate (having zero optical power) and located at the real image of the system
either in contact with or closely adjacent the lens element with the flat refractive surface. This simplifies
centering of the graticule with respect to the lens elements of the system. Such a graticule could alternatively
be supported by the flat surface of the lens element nearest the real image.
An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the
accompanying schematic drawing and tables.
As is shown in the drawing a telescope 20 is formed by an objective system 21 and an eyepiece system 22
aligned on a common optical axis 23. The telescope 20 is of the afocal refractor type and internally forms a
real image I of radiation entering the telescope from object space 0. The objective system 21 is formed by a
primary lens element F being positively powered, a secondary lens element E being negatively powered and
a tertiary lens element D being negatively powered. Lens element E is colour corrective and when coupled to
lens element D effects focussing and thermal compensation by movement along optical axis 23.The
eyepiece system 22 is formed by positively powered lens elements A, B and C which form a fixed focus
system as do elements D, E and F so that the objective system 21 accepts a bundle of parallel rays from an entrance pupil formed in the object space 0 and the eyepiece system 22 collects radiation from the inverted
real image I formed by the objective system 21 and produces a bundle of parallel rays which form an exit
pupil m in image space E. The optical power of the various lens elements A, B, C, D, E, F and the spacing between the refractive surfaces 1-12 thereof are arranged such that the image I lies near surface 6 which is
flat whereas all other refractive surfaces are substantially spherical i.e., if they are not truly spherical they are
'spherical' within the meaning of the art.
The telescope 20 is intended for use in the infrared wave-length region (i.e. 8-13 microns) and
consequently the refractive indices of the lens elements are relatively large. In order to provide high optical
performance at the internal real image I lens element C is preferably made of an optical material with low
material homogeneities such as zinc selenide (CVD vacuum deposited) which has a refractive index of 2.41,
lens elements A,B,D and F are made of a material which at 10 microns has a wavelength of at least 4, for
example germanium the refractive index of which is 4.003, and lens element E is made of Barr and Stroud type 1 Chalcogenide glass, the refractive index of which is 2.49 (all measured at a temperature of 20"C and at
a wavelength of 10 microns).These materials (which are suited to being anti-reflection coated) also provide
at least 60% transmission of incident radiation in the 8.5-11.5 micron range when anti-reflection coated. Thus
all refractive surfaces within the telescope can be anti-reflection coated.
The eyepiece system 22 is moderately insensitive to focus changes resulting from the objective system 21 and optical performance degradation induced by ambient temperature changes typically within the range -400C - +70"C.
One example of the telescope 20 which includes the objective lens system 21 and the eyepiece lens system 22 is detailed in Table I wherein the radius of curvature of each refractive surface is given together with the aperture diameter of each surface and of the pupil a, the position of which is used as a datum from which the separation of successive refractive surfaces is defined, together with the nature of the material relevant to such separation interval.Thus for example surface 2 has a radius of curvature of -117.35 millimeters, the negative sign indicating that the centre of curvature is to the right hand side of surface 2; it is separated by a thickness of 8.05 millimeters of germanium from the preceding surface, No. 1, in the direction of the pupil ; it has an aperture diameter of 57.74 millimeters; and is separated from the succeeding surface, No. 3, by a distance 30.30 millimeters in air. This telescope produces a magnification of x7 and the eyepiece system 22 has an effective focal length of approximately 45.50 millimeters, and at the real image I an approximate f-number of 2.94.
The eyepiece system detailed in Table I is one of a family which can be constructed to provide in image space E a full field up to approximately 80" and a pupil diameter in excess of 15.5 mm. By scaling the eyepiece system by a factor in the range 0.01 to 10 an increase or decrease in the effective focal length may be obtained. The eyepiece system which has been described provides high performance over the majority of the field at the real image I as can be seen from Table II and with its low pupil aberrations it conveniently accepts an objective lens system 21 such as that described so as to provide a compact high performance afocal telescope.It will be noted that due to the radii of curvature of the eyepiece lens surfaces 1 and 3 the eyepiece system 22 when coated with a high transmission, low reflection coating, such as Barr & Stroud
ARG3, can be combined with a FLIR system without introducing any noticable narcissus effect. Also, there is no vignetting at any of the refractive sufaces of the lens elements.
TABLE 1 At 20"C Radius of Aperture
Lens Surface Separation Curvature Material Diameter
Entrance m O Flat Air 15.50
Pupil* A 1 46.63 -254.02 Air 55.54
2 8.05 -117.35 Ge 57.74
3 3 30.30 54.61 Air 56.12
4 22.91 38.10 Ge 38.23
5 5 12.92 113.54 Air 36.96 C 6 3.50 Flat ZnSe 36.56
(CVD) 7 7 113.02 -42.57 Air 48.85 8 8 5.09 -49.89 Ge 53.93 9 9 0.005 262.13 Air 57.93
10 7.39 201.68 As/Se/Ge 58.11 (BSI) 11 104.36 -228.09 Air 123.58
12 12.00 -169.06 Ge 128.56 *Maximum field angle at entrance pupil = 46.3 .
TABLE II
Approximate R.M.S. spot Approximate R.M.S. spot
sizes (in microns) at the sizes (in milliradians)
real image (I) referenced in object space 0
At 20"C to pupil 0 referenced to pupil IZI Field Monochromatic *Chromatic Monochromatic *Chromatic
at 9.6 microns over 8.5- at 9.6 microns over 8.5
11.5 microns 11.5 microns
Axial 36.8 39.5 0.073 0.105 1/2 39.6 41.6 0.084 0.127
3/4 46.0 48.3 0.122 0.159
Full 55.8 58.8 0.115 0.160
*Given as an equally weighted three wavelength accumulated measurement, the wavelengths
being 8.5,9.6 and 11.5 microns.
TABLE III
Material Refractive index* V-value# Ge 4.003 1182
BS2 2.856 248
BSA 2.779 209 Tri 1173 2.600 142 ASTIR 2,497 169
BS1 2.492 152
Tl20 2.492 144
ZnSe 2.407 77
KRS5 2.370 260 KRS6 2.177 95
AgCI 1.980 72
Csl 1.739 316
CsBr 1.663 176
KI 1.620 137
KBr 1.526 82
NaCI 1.495 25
KCI 1.457 40
* The refractive index is for 10 microns
# Over the wavelength range 8.5-11.5 microns
Claims (8)
1. An eyepiece or collimation lens system formed by three optically-powered lens elements aligned on a
common optical axis and arranged to accept radiation in the infrared wavelength region from a real image
and to provide a bundle of parallel rays at an exit pupil, each said lens element being positively powered and
made of a material which has a useful spectral band-pass in the infrared wavelength region, the refractive
surface of the lens element adjacent said real image being flat and the five other refractive surfaces of said
lens elements being substantially spherical.
2. A system as claimed in claim 1, including a graticule mounted on or adjacent said flat refractive
surface.
3. A system as claimed in either preceding claim, wherein one or more of said refractive surfaces is
anti-reflection coated.
4. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the two lens elements adjacent said exit pupil
have refractive indices of not less than 4.0 at a wavelength of 10 microns and a temperature of 20"C.
5. A system as claimed in any preceding claim wherein said lens element adjacent the real image is made of Zinc Selenide and the remaining lens elements of said system are made of Germanium.
6. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein at least one of said lens elements is movable along the optical axis with respect to at least one other of said lens elements whereby the system can be compensated for large ambient temperature variations.
7. A system as claimed in claim 1 and substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Table 1 herein.
8. A system as claimed in claim 7 when scaled by a factor within the range 0.01 to 10.0 substantially as described herein.
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
GB8107757A GB2074751B (en) | 1980-04-26 | 1981-03-12 | Eyepiece or collimation lens system |
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
GB8013848 | 1980-04-26 | ||
GB8107757A GB2074751B (en) | 1980-04-26 | 1981-03-12 | Eyepiece or collimation lens system |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
GB2074751A true GB2074751A (en) | 1981-11-04 |
GB2074751B GB2074751B (en) | 1983-10-12 |
Family
ID=26275331
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
GB8107757A Expired GB2074751B (en) | 1980-04-26 | 1981-03-12 | Eyepiece or collimation lens system |
Country Status (1)
Country | Link |
---|---|
GB (1) | GB2074751B (en) |
Cited By (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
FR2509057A1 (en) * | 1981-07-01 | 1983-01-07 | Barr & Stroud Ltd | AFOCAL TYPE INFRARED TELESCOPE OR TELESCOPE |
-
1981
- 1981-03-12 GB GB8107757A patent/GB2074751B/en not_active Expired
Cited By (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
FR2509057A1 (en) * | 1981-07-01 | 1983-01-07 | Barr & Stroud Ltd | AFOCAL TYPE INFRARED TELESCOPE OR TELESCOPE |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
GB2074751B (en) | 1983-10-12 |
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Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
PCNP | Patent ceased through non-payment of renewal fee |
Effective date: 20000312 |