Improvement of Chromatic Aberration of the Plastic Rod‐Lens Array, 2

Abstract

AbstractSummary: We propose in this paper a new plastic rod‐lens with low chromatic aberration. Since a plastic rod‐lens has a parabolic refractive index distribution, it usually also shows a distribution of Abbe number. This Abbe number distribution is thought to cause the chromatic aberration of the plastic rod‐lens array. We have studied novel materials for a new plastic rod‐lens with low chromatic aberration and have provided new transparent polymer blends consisting of two polymers with different refractive indices and with almost equal Abbe numbers by using a fabrication process based on photopolymerization of methacrylate monomer(s) in the presence of other methacrylic polymers. The process can give new transparent polymer blends which cannot be formed using conventional techniques for polymer blend formation. In this work, tricyclo[5,2,1,02,6]deca‐8‐yl methacrylate is used as a high refractive index monomer and tert‐butyl methacrylate is used as a low refractive index one. By using polymer blends including these monomer units, we have created a plastic rod‐lens with lower chromatic aberration.Molecular structures of comonomers in the study.magnified imageMolecular structures of comonomers in the study.