When conducting interferometric tests of freeform optical surfaces, additional optical components, such as computer-generated holograms or deformable mirrors, are often necessary to achieve a null or quasi-null. These additional optical components increase both the cost and the difficulty of interferometric tests of freeform optical surfaces. In this paper, designs using off-axis segments of conics as base surfaces for freeforms are explored. These off-axis conics are more complex base surfaces than typically-used base spheres but remain null-testable. By leveraging off-axis conics in conjunction with additional orthogonal polynomial departures, designs were found with up to an order-of-magnitude of improvement in testability estimates relative to designs that use base spheres. Two design studies, a three-mirror telescope and a wide field-of-view four-mirror telescope, demonstrate the impact of using off-axis conics as the base surface.
Metaform optics: Bridging nanophotonics and freeform optics
The demand for high-resolution optical systems with a compact form factor, such as augmented reality displays, sensors, and mobile cameras, requires creating new optical component architectures. Advances in the design and fabrication of freeform optics and metasurfaces make them potential solutions to address the previous needs. Here, we introduce the concept of a metaform—an optical surface that integrates the combined benefits of a freeform optic and a metasurface into a single optical component. We experimentally realized a miniature imager using a metaform mirror. The mirror is fabricated via an enhanced electron beam lithography process on a freeform substrate. The design degrees of freedom enabled by a metaform will support a new generation of optical systems.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1922591
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10291521
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Science Advances
- Volume:
- 7
- Issue:
- 18
- ISSN:
- 2375-2548
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- eabe5112
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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CMB-S4, the next-generation ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) observatory, will provide detailed maps of the CMB at millimeter wavelengths to dramatically advance our understanding of the origin and evolution of the universe. CMB-S4 will deploy large- and small-aperture telescopes with hundreds of thousands of detectors to observe the CMB at arcminute and degree resolutions at millimeter wavelengths. Inflationary science benefits from a deep delensing survey at arcminute resolutions capable of observing a large field of view at millimeter wavelengths. This kind of survey acts as a complement to a degree angular resolution survey. The delensing survey requires a nearly uniform distribution of cameras per frequency band across the focal plane. We present a large-throughput (9.4° field of view), large-aperture (5-m diameter) freeform three-mirror anastigmatic telescope and an array of 85 cameras for CMB observations at arcminute resolutions, which meets the needs of the delensing survey of CMB-S4. A detailed prescription of this three-mirror telescope and cameras is provided, with a series of numerical calculations that indicates expected optical performance and mechanical tolerance.
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abe5112
