Jay Vizgaitis Optics 521 Summary of paper entitled Athermalization of optical instruments from the optomechanical viewpoint by Thomas

H. Jamieson The purpose of this paper being re ie!ed can be gleamed from the title. "t is an e#cellent paper on the impact of temperature on optical systems. The author discusses the impact of temperature effects$ both uniform soa% and gradients$ on optical systems$ and ho! to correct for them. &ases using glasses$ plastics$ li'uids$ infrared materials$ and reflecti e materials are discussed. This is a brief re ie! of the most important concepts from the paper. The paper itself goes into more details and pro ides many more e#amples than this summary. Introduction (thermalization is the principle of stabilizing the optical performance !ith respect to temperature. (ny temperature changes e#perienced by the optics may be !ith respect to time or space or both. Time refers to a uniform heat soa% across all the optics$ and space refers to a gradient across the optics resulting in each lens )and housing* being a different temperature$ or there being a radial change in temperature across an optic. ( temperature increase !ill result in any or all of the follo!ing effects+ 1* surface radii increase$ 2* changing a spherical surface to an aspheric surface ,* increase in the spacing bet!een lenses -* increase or decrease of the refracti e indices of the optics 5* decrease in the refracti e inde# of air .* strain on the optical elements resulting in !arping and bi/refringence The magnitude of temperature effects are controlled by the coefficients and . is the linear coefficient of thermal e#pansion )&T0* and is defined as+
dL = 1 L e'n 1 dT

is the thermal coefficient of refracti e inde# and is defined as+

=
dN dT

e'n 2

1oth and are used to calculate the t!o thermo/optic coefficients ) and * that determine the impact of temperature on lens performance. These coefficients !ill be e#amined further later. ( table listing the coefficients for infrared materials and plastics are listed in table 1. These materials are listed because they present the largest problems for athermal designing. 2lasses tend to be minimally impacted by temperature. Spatial temperature distribution: "t is common to see constant arying temperature changes in optical systems. These may occur in the form of gradients across the optical system or across the optical elements themsel es$ and may e en include differences bet!een the housing temperatures and the optics. The impact of these gradients can be determined by the first thermo/optic

coefficient . "t is used to determine the optical path difference )O34* caused by the temperature gradients. The impact on the O34 is sho!n in e'uation , )!here S is the lens thic%ness*$ and is calculated by the formula in e'uation -. dW = S ( N 1) e'n ,
=

( N 1)

e'n -

Varying material types ha e different coefficients$ and result in different performance impacts from radial gradients. To reduce thermal gradients$ it is important to select materials that can absorb large amounts of heat !ith small resulting temperature rise$ and conduct this heat a!ay rapidly. 2lasses+ 5ost glasses ha e alues in the range of 5 to 25#16/. !hich !ill result in a large !a efront error for a relati e small dT. 7or e#ample$ a 16mm thic% 189 element !ith a dT : 16& !ill result in a d; of 1.25. Some glasses )78 and 38 glasses from Schott and Ohara* ha e been specifically manufactured to ha e small or negati e alues to eliminate this problem. 3lastics+ alues are in the range of <166 to <266#16/. in addition to ha ing ery lo! thermal conducti ities result in the potential of ery large thermal conducti ities. 7or e#ample$ a polycarbonate lens !ith the same gradient as the pre ious 189 lens !ould ha e a !a efront error 16# that of the 189 lens. "nfrared materials+ The al%ali metal halides ha e negati e alues bet!een <16 to <126#16/. !hile more common materials li%e germanium$ =nS$ and the chalcogenide glasses e#hibit alues bet!een 56 to 156#16/.. 0 en though these alues are large$ materials li%e germanium ha e significant thermal capacity and conducti ity resulting in more uniform heat transfer. >eflectors+ pure mirror system thermal properties are determined solely by their e#pansion coefficients. ?ight!eighting mirror reduce heat capacity and thus impro es uniformity across the surface. Uniform thermal soak: ;hen a uniform change in temperature occurs$ the primary impact is to produce a change in focus position. This can be represented by the second thermo/optic coefficient represented by e'uation 5. This coefficient relates to focus ia e'uation ..
=
df

e'n . Optical glasses !ith small are the result of balancing the change in focal length due to an e#pansion of the surface radii$ !ith a decrease$ due to higher inde#. ?i%e the coefficient$ both infrared materials and plastics e#hibit alues more e#treme than glasses. The effects of can be accommodated by one of three athermalization methods+ passi e optical$ passi e mechanical$ and acti e mechanical. Passive optical athermalization: 3assi e optical is !here the optics are designed to not change focus o er a temperature range by using the different properties of the different lens materials to compensate for

( N 1) =( ) fdT

e'n 5

themsel es. @o mo ing parts are thus employed$ but ery careful attention needs to be paid to the selection of the glasses and housings. The goal of athermalization is not necessarily to maintain the same focus relati e to the lenses$ but rather relati e to the mount structure. The impact of athermalization aries based on the type of lens material that is being used+ 2lasses+ "f a single lens is being used$ then it is simple enough to choose a glass that has a that matches the / of the housing material. 7or the case of an aluminum housing$ this !ould be either an 78 or 38 glass. "n general$ something more complicated li%e a doublet !ill be needed to balance out both the thermal effects and chromatic effects. "t is possible to find a solution for a doublet that is both athermalized and achromatized by e'uation 9 !here 1 and 2 are the indi idual thermo/optical coefficients for each glass and 4 is the desired coefficient for the doublet. This alue can then be used to match that of the mount.

D =(

1 1 2 2 )

(1 2)

e'n 9

This returns appro#imately 156 doublet pairs that ha e a /4 !ithin 6.5#16/. of aluminum. "nfrared materials+ The maAority of athermalization !or% is performed in the infrared due to the large d@BdT alues associated !ith this !a eband. Since optics are generally diffraction limited in this spectral band$ the amount of acceptable focus aberrations can be limited to B- and an acceptable temperature range can be calculated by e'uation C.

dT =

2 ( F D)

( f )

e'n C

"t can then be calculated that a 566mm germanium lens at fB5 !ill only be allo!ed a temperature change of C&. "n addition$ it has a alue that is opposite in sign of housing materials resulting in a further decrease. There is one reasonable material )8>S5* a ailable to athermalize !ith germanium. Ho!e er$ this !ill result in increase chromatic aberration$ not to mention that 8>S5 is to#ic to the touchE "n order to both achromatize and athermalize in the infrared it is necessary to use at least a triplet. ( three lens system !ith thin and close together lenses of total po!er 8 !ill be achromatic and athermal if e'uations F/11 hold true. K1 + K2 + K, = K e'n F K1 1 + K2 2 + K, , = 6 e'n 16 K1 1 + K2 2 + K, , = K e'n 11 Sol ing for this results in the best combination of lenses being 2eB=nSB8>S5 or =nSB(5T">1B2e if 8>S5 is not considered an acceptable solution. 3lastics+ (lthough only a fe! materials e#ist$ it is possible to athermalize plastic lenses. Gsing e'uation F/11$ the author finds a solution using acrylic$ polystyrene$ and S(@ !ith a polycarbonate plastic mount. The limited number of materials does limit the feasible solution set$ and most desired configurations may not ha e a solution.

>eflecti e systems+ Since d@BdT needs not be considered$ the alue of only needs to e'ual / of the mount. "n a simple t!o mirror &assegrain system$ the author suggests that any design can be athemalized. The simplest method of accomplishing this is to utilize the same material for the mirrors as the housing. "n other !ords$ if you use aluminum mirrors and an aluminum housing$ your system should be athermalized. Passive mechanical athermalization: Since it appears to not al!ays be reasonable to optimize a system to be athermalized optically$ a mechanical solution is often preferred$ especially !ith more comple# systems. This can be accomplished by inserting spacers !ithin the housing of different materials that !ill a lens or set of lenses to shift a desired amount. 1y combining spacers of length ?1 and ?2 !ith arying e#pansion coefficients 1 and 2 it is possible to produce an effecti e e#pansion coefficient as described in e'uation 12.

( 1 L1 + 2 L2 )

( L1 + L2 )

e'n 12

"n this case$ all motion of lenses or e#pansion of housings are controlled by changes in temperature only$ and re'uires no po!er changes. Active mechanical athermalization: "n a comple# system$ the simplest alternati e may be to use acti e mechanical athermalization !here lenses are mo ed ia motors as a brute force solution to maintaining focus o er temperature. This is particularly useful !hen a focus mechanism already e#ists. Conclusions This paper thoroughly in estigates the re'uirements for athermalization of different materials in different types of systems. "t also pro ides good references of coefficients for glasses$ plastics$ li'uids$ housings$ and infrared materials to be used !hen designing or analyzing the athermalization of a system. This paper also co ers some information about the use of optical design programs to do the necessary calculations to athermalize systems. The coefficients from the programs can be used$ or your o!n can be entered. The important thing to note is that for ery comple# systems$ this is easiest !ay to analyze !hat the impact !ill be on the system.

'aterial &ermaniu m Silicon *nSe *nS Cd(e A'(I$) &aAs #$S% #Cl #"r #I aCl Cs"r CsI Acr!lic Pol!carbon ate Pol!st!rene SA

Inde, +n0 -.66 ,.-, 2.-1 2.26 2..C 2.56 ,.2C 2.,9 1.-. 1.5, 1..2 1.-F 1... 1.91.-F1C 1.5C55 1.5F65 1.5.9-

Abbe value + 0

1,pansion coefficient + 0

Inde, coefficient + 0

12-.C9 .1.F, ,-.12 2..19 52.-. ,,.-9 5C.5. /2,,.22 /FF.25 /16..-/125.9. /F9.-.C.C/19-.65 /29C./25,./2CF.9 /2-..5

+,)-./0 1,..29 ...F, -F.,2 -1.F9 .1.-. 5F.-9 96.,. /111.22 /29.25 /51.2/-6.5. /F.-1.-../9-.65 /15-./119./1CF.9 /1-..5

C.1.6, 2-1.66 59.C22.9. 1-C.9F 11F.F9 169.66 1.-.9, ,6.29 .1.-5 CF.2. 1C..5 1,2.,6 2,..26 59.-. 2F.F1 ,6.C9 ,-.C1

5.96 2.56 9..6 9.F6 -.56 1,.66 5.F6 .1.66 ,..66 29..6 -2..6 --.66 -9.F6 56.66 .2 .C 56 56

,F2.115...F 5..C. -6.CC F5.-2 .F.5F 1-..C/2,..2F /2C.F6 /-1.-9 /51.5. /2..-99.-6 /F1..C /165 /169 /1-6 /116

Table 1+ coefficients for infrared and plastic materials