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OPTICS continued
20–24, 2015 in Baltimore.
A U. S. DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency)
project seeks to reduce cost, complexity, and weight of military
optics by developing manufacturable graded-index (GRIN)
lenses, which can route light along complex paths to fit into
compact military systems. Surmet Corp. (Burlington, MA) is
developing volume-manufacturing processes for GRIN lenses based on the polycrystalline ceramic aluminum oxynitride
(AlON), which is transparent from the visible to beyond 5
µm and is so strong it is used for tank windows, says Moore.
Plastic optics and thin-film colors
“We’re only in the second or third inning of where we want to go
with plastic optics,” says Al Kapoor, chairman of Syntec Optics
(Pavillion, NY). Their biocompatibility has made them a big
success in medical applications. Their low cost and light weight
are attractive for reducing soldiers’ loads in the field. Now
new plastics are overcoming the 70°C limit of acrylic plastics.
One material
called ULTEM is
usable to 170°C,
which Syntec is
developing for
use in head-up
displays expect-
ed in cars by 2016.
The range of
shapes continues to expand.
“Aspheres were a
big thing 10 years
ago, but now we
can do them eas-
ily,” says Kapoor.
Syntec is currently
developing ways
to make more
complex, asym-
metric, and non-rotationally-symmetric plastic optics (see
Fig. 4). As optics get smaller and their profiles grow more
complex, he says, “the advantages of plastics go up” because
molding can mass-produce shapes not practical in glass. “Our
work is starting to touch the consumer market,” says Kapoor,
citing augmented reality systems such as Oculus Rift, and
Samsung’s development of eyewear similar to Google Glass
that projects images onto the optics. But challenges remain,
including bonding lenses together to make achromats, applying coatings, and a limited range of refractive indexes.
The spread of digital imaging is opening a new range
of applications for thin-film coatings—providing crucial
“ground truth” for color in medical imaging, says Jennifer
Kruschwitz of JK Consulting (Rochester, NY). Diagnoses
depend on color, so medical imaging needs stable color
FIGURE 4. Complex optical designs
previously limited to glass optics are now
possible in plastic, including this lens,
which has multiple optical surfaces with
various mounting features. (Courtesy of
Syntec Optics)
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