Freeform spectrometer enabling increased compactness

Light Sci Appl. 2017 Jul 28;6(7):e17026. doi: 10.1038/lsa.2017.26. eCollection 2017 Jul.

Abstract

We present optical designs with freeform optics in the context of hyperspectral imaging. Results show designs that are 5 × more compact in volume than similar designs using conventional spherical or aspherical surfaces. We will show how combining the concepts of spatial and spectral-band broadening, which will be introduced in this paper, led to the improvement in compactness that is uniquely enabled by freeform optics.

Keywords: aberrations; freeform optics; imaging spectrometer.