Abstract

Combination diffractive and refractive optical systems offer numerous and exciting possibilities as alternatives to all refractive systems. Combinations of refractive and diffractive elements can work very well together for certain applications. Also, diffractive elements can be used solo in more restricted cases such as monochromatic and narrow-field-of-view applications. Diffractive elements can be computer designed, lightweight, used to control aberrations, and used to shape the wavefront. While diffractive elements definitely have much potential for the right applications, there are some possible drawbacks. These include questions of diffraction efficiency and light scattering due to random imperfections. In this work, we propose to address some of these issues.

© 1992 Optical Society of America