Abstract
By generalizing the wave aberration function to include plane symmetric systems, we describe the aberration fields for a combination of plane symmetric systems. The combined system aberration coefficients for the fields of spherical aberration, coma, astigmatism, defocus and distortion depend on the individual aberration coefficients and the orientations of the individual plane symmetric component systems. The aberration coefficients can be used to calculate the locations of the field nodes for the different types of aberration, including coma, astigmatism, defocus and distortion. This work provides an alternate view for combining aberrations in optical systems.
Highlights
Optical systems that do not have an axis of rotational symmetry have been and continue to be of interest in optical design
The question is: can the plane symmetric formalism be extended to a combination of plane symmetric systems which do not necessarily share the same orientation for their respective planes of symmetry? Using the vector notation developed by Thompson [3,4] we extend the plane symmetric formalism to a combination of plane symmetric systems
The total or global aberration function of a number j of plane symmetric systems with relative orientation i j and with aberration coefficients W2k+n+ p,2m+n+q,n, p,q, j is the sum of the individual aberration functions
Summary
Optical systems that do not have an axis of rotational symmetry have been and continue to be of interest in optical design. The result of the work in this paper is a more general theory for non-axially symmetric systems than “tilted component optical systems” given that the component systems are not restricted to being axially symmetric This theory can be applied to both systems comprised of off-axis aspheres, as long as a plane of symmetry can be defined, and tilted plane symmetric optical components if they are tilted in the plane of symmetry. The new contributions to the theory are: 1) component system addition is specified by angular displacement rather than by component tilt, resulting in an alternate view of system concatenation, 2) a wider class of optical systems regarding the symmetry of the component systems can be treated, 3) we point out and discuss the occurrence of line nodes, and 4) the graphics contribute to the understanding of vector aberration theory
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
