Ray optics of generalised lenses
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2016 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Jornal of the Optical Society of America A |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | https://www.osapublishing.org/josaa/abstract.cfm?uri=josaa-33-5-962 |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/JOSAA.33.000962 |
| Field | Optics, masers and lasers |
| Keywords | generalized lens (glens); imaging; nodal point |
| Description | We study the ray optics of generalized lenses (glenses), which are ideal thin lenses generalized to have different object- and image-sided focal lengths, and the most general light-ray-direction-changing surfaces that stigmatically image any point in object space to a corresponding point in image space. Our analysis is centered on the nodal point. Whereas the nodal point of a thin lens always resides in the lens plane, that of a glens can reside anywhere on the optical axis. Utilizing the nodal point, we derive simple equations that describe the mapping between object and image space and the light-ray-direction change. We demonstrate our findings with the help of ray-tracing simulations. Glenses allow novel optical instruments to be realized, at least theoretically, and our results facilitate the design and analysis of such devices. |
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