Changes in the position of best focus over temperature are a major source of contrast degradation in the long-wave infrared. The prime sources of this focus shift are the difference between thermal expansion coefficients of lens material and housing material, and the change in refractive index over temperature ∂n/∂T. These parameters, combined with the limited depth of focus when using lenses for uncooled detectors, can rapidly degrade performance with changing temperature. Firstorder paraxial calculations to model these changes are discussed, with a demonstration of its application to single-element imaging systems. The model is then expanded to include two-element systems where both elements are made of the same optical material, or the more general case where different materials are combined. It is shown how a chalcogenide glasses are well suited for athermalization, and how a combination of material choice and optical prescription can lead to an improved passive optical athermalization scheme, i.e. stable performance over temperature with no moving components. The limits of the used model are discussed and examples given for various focal lengths.
Transmission is a key parameter in describing an IR-lens, but is also often the subject of controversy. One reason is the misinterpretation of “transmission” in infrared camera practice. If the camera lens is replaced by an alternative one the signal will be affected by two parameters: proportional to the square of the effective aperture based F-number and linearly to the transmission. The measure to collect energy is defined as the Energy Throughput ETP, and the signal level of the IR-camera is proportional to ETP. Most published lens transmission values are based on spectrophotometric measurement of plane-parallel witness pieces obtained from coating processes. Published aperture based F-numbers derive very often from ray tracing values in the on-axis bundle. The following contribution is about transmission measurement. It highlights the bulk absorption and coating issues of infrared lenses. Two different setups are built and tested, an Integrating Sphere (IS)-based setup and a Camera-Based (CB) setup. The comparison of the two principles also clarifies the impact of the F-number. One difficulty in accurately estimating lens transmission lies in measuring the ratio between the signal of ray bundles deviated by the lens under test and the signal of non-deviated ray bundles without lens (100% transmission). There are many sources for errors and deviations in LWIR-region including: background radiation, reflection from “rough” surfaces, and unexpected transmission bands. Care is taken in the set up that measured signals with and without the lens are consistent and reproducible. Reference elements such as uncoated lenses are used for calibration of both setups. When solid angle-based radiometric relationships are included, both setups yield consistent transmission values. Setups and their calibration will be described and test results on commercially available lenses will be published.
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