Polarization aberration in resource satellite system

Abstract

Polarization aberration is one of the most important factors affecting the performance of optical systems, especially in systems which have many reflectors. The polarization response characters of the reflectors will change the polarization state of the incident light and the polarization aberration will affect the imaging quality of the system. In many resource satellites R-C reflective systems are often used in primary optical systems. The main elements of the R-C reflective systems are reflectors coated with thin films, so polarization aberration must be controlled to improve the imaging quality of the systems. In this paper ZEMAX software is used to realize the simulation of the optical system of a resource satellite and polarization analysis of the system is presented. According to the results of the polarization analysis, the whole optical system is optimized and the ways to control the polarization aberration are summarized. As a result of the study, a conclusion can be drawn that polarization is an important aspect in optical design. To achieve good imaging quality, polarization aberration must be controlled very well, moreover, optical thin film design should be considered while designing optical systems.