Open AccessCharacterizing the shape of freeform optics
Author(s) -
G. W. Forbes
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.20.002483
Subject(s) - design for manufacturability , optics , zernike polynomials , computer science , surface (topology) , characterization (materials science) , geometrical optics , range (aeronautics) , physics , geometry , wavefront , mathematics , materials science , engineering , mechanical engineering , composite material
A recently introduced method for characterizing the shape of rotationally symmetric aspheres is generalized here for application to a wide class of freeform optics. New sets of orthogonal polynomials are introduced along with robust and efficient algorithms for computing the surface shape as well as its derivatives of any order. By construction, the associated characterization offers a rough interpretation of shape at a glance and it facilitates a range of estimates of manufacturability.