Laser Focus World - January 2015

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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)