Design, manufacturing and measurement of aspheric test-plate using only traditional techniques

Abstract

A plano-aspheric test-plate was designed, manufactured and measured. The design was achieved using an optical design software (ZEMAX). A traditional manufacturing method was applied to fabricate the aspheric test-plate from a spherical one using a spherometer with many rings and local removal polishing. An interferometric double path auto-collimation measuring method was used to measure surface’s parameters. This aspheric test plate was used in the workshop to fabricate and evaluate other aspheric lenses using Newton’s rings. The resolution of the aspheric test-plate and the manufactured lenses was measured in order to evaluate their performance by comparison with spherical lenses. All processes are made using traditional methods. The final results may be useful to encourage traditional optical work-shops to produce such important surfaces.