A blog about optical design, build, test and more.
Compensation Methods for Glass Tolerances
Precision optical imaging systems span a wide variety of markets and applications including semiconductor, life science, medical device, aerospace, defense, and other industries. Often these imaging systems necessitate demanding performance requirements including diffraction-limited wavefront image quality, pixel or sub-pixel image distortion, as well as broad-band chromatic aberration correction. In order for the optical system to […]
Opto-mechanical Design Challenges for High Performance Aerial Imaging
Optikos develops optical systems for a wide variety of applications and markets, from medical diagnostic and surgical, to augmented reality and gaming, to automotive, tactical and consumer products. The best aspects of engineering for our customers involve design of systems that perform “Anywhere Light Goes.” Aerial imaging is one of the more challenging of these […]
Measuring at the Correct Conjugate
When evaluating lens performance it is critical for the test system to properly simulate the lens’s image and object conjugates. Testing off conjugate will produce results that can give a false sense of confidence and when it comes time to use the lens as intended you can get an unpleasant surprise. In that light, the […]
Design for Test—Plan Your Metrology Early
Most of us have heard of “Design for Manufacture” or DFM. This is a core tenet of the Optikos design philosophy and it is critical for optical hardware where tolerances are measured in microns, assembly and alignments can be labor intensive, and serviceability is a necessity for long-life instruments. Less well known, but just as […]
Encircled and Ensquared Energy Explained (EEEE!!!)
Here at Optikos we spend a lot of time measuring the imaging quality of lens assemblies. In most cases, traditional measurements of Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) are well correlated with lens performance in its intended application. However, in some cases, characterization of encircled and/or ensquared energy serve as better indicators of lens performance. This is […]
Nearly 40 Years of MTF and Going Strong
Let’s take a trip down memory lane. In the mid-1990s when I was a young engineer at Optikos Corporation, I vividly remember CEO Stephen Fantone imploring my boss, Peter Carellas, to get back to work on a project Steve called, “that four-letter word!” The word in question was “book” and the book Peter was working […]
How Hard Can It Be to Select A Lens for A Camera System?
At first glance selecting a lens for a camera system may seem straightforward, but it can be a deceptively difficult task. We often find that customers have already chosen a sensor and they want to find the most appropriate lens for their application. They will have a field of view requirement and the field of […]
Why Measure Stray Light?
Stray light in imaging systems is known by many terms—veiling glare, ghost image, lens flare, and image glare, just to name a few. In its most general sense, “stray light” refers to any unwanted light that ends up in the image formed by a lens. For most of us, our exposure to stray light probably comes from […]
Virtual Reality Eyepieces – Do Microdisplays Lead to Smaller Headsets?
In virtual reality (VR) systems, we often talk about “immersion” as a primary goal for user experience. From the perspective of the optical designer, an immersive VR headset will produce a field of view (FOV) that rivals a person’s natural field of vision. In practice, we strike a balance between our 200° binocular visual field […]
An Intimate (and Fun) Conversation with a Nobel Prize Laureate
On May 21st, the New England Section of The Optical Society (NES/OSA) had the good fortune to feature a conversation with Dr. Donna Strickland, who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2018 for her work in creating Chirped Pulse Amplification–ultrashort high-intensity lasers that have become essential in laser fusion research, laser eye surgery, and […]
