Freeform Polymer Optics: Boosting Performance and Overcoming Design Challenges

Freeform optics, generally defined as optics without an axis of rotational symmetry, can be very useful for increasing performance while reducing size, weight, and element count in optical systems. Examples are presented, including optics for high-volume consumer devices where polymer optic solutions can be particularly attractive. Although they can enable systems that would not otherwise be possible, freeform optics present significant challenges to designers and manufacturers. These challenges include finding a common language for design and fabrication, fabrication techniques, and especially metrology techniques. Potential solutions to some of these challenges are discussed.

About the presenter
Nelson E. Claytor, Ph.D., is the president of Fresnel Technologies Inc. (FTI), a leading privately owned manufacturer specializing in precision diamond-machined and molded optics. As an SPIE Fellow and a Senior Member of Optica, Claytor is widely recognized as an expert in the design and fabrication of specialty plastic optics. He earned his bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of California, Berkeley, followed by master’s and doctoral degrees in atomic physics from the University of Notre Dame. Claytor also did a postdoctoral fellowship at the E.O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.