Advancing IR Lens Design: New Materials for Low-SWaP Imaging

The IR imaging industry has changed rapidly in recent years, with thermal cameras scaling down in size, weight, and cost by leveraging uncooled detectors with decreasing pixel sizes. This trend has placed high pressure on the optics industry to advance optical lens technologies that balance trade-offs in performance and reduced SWaP-C (size, weight, power and cost). In addition, recent geopolitical conditions have driven industry concerns to near-crisis levels over the availability and price of traditional Ge lenses.

While alternative IR materials such as chalcogenides have been available for well over a decade, several new compositions with unique optical, mechanical, and thermal properties have recently been developed by NRL (U.S. Naval Research Labs) and transitioned to LightPath Technologies under an exclusive license for commercialization. This presentation will discuss potential advantages of utilizing chalcogenide materials in IR imaging designs, optical trade-offs in achieving Low-SWaP goals, manufacturing considerations for production readiness, and the unique properties of novel compositions licensed from NRL to expand performance trade-off options.

About the presenter
Jeremy Huddleston is the optical engineering solutions manager at LightPath Technologies. With over 25 years of experience in optical design, test, metrology, and production readiness, he specializes in designing compact, low SWaP imaging lenses for applications ranging from cell phone cameras to thermal imagers, with an emphasis on DFM and assembly/test processes for transitioning to production.

Huddleston has designed a wide range of IR imaging lenses that have been successfully deployed in volume production for both commercial and defense applications. Among his many accomplishments, he was the optical designer for the original FLIR Lepton® lens used inside “the world's first smartphone with an integrated thermal camera” (CAT® S60). He holds degrees in physics and electro-optics, and he is a Senior Member of the SPIE.