Abstract

In search of innovative optical systems, I have turned to the eye structure of rare, deep sea animals that live at depths of 200500 m, where the light is limited and comes primarily from bioluminescence. Eyes have considerable inventiveness in their optical design among these marine animals. In the crustacean copepod copilia the eye has a biconvex lens (L1) and, at some distance away, an aspherical lens (L2), a telescopic eye. The shape of the L2 lens is optimized for light collection and acts like a fiber-optic bundle. The focal point of the optics is a small area of the retina. The retina rapidly moves back and forth, and the organism's eye scans much like the electron beam scans a television screen. The animal's eye structure was modeled, and lenses L1 and L2 (glass and polymers) were shaped into the calculated curvatures and geometry. The focal lengths of the lenses were determined and fitted into an optical scope. The scope was tested for imaging of near, far, and moving objects. Sharp images were obtained from 25 cm to infinity at relatively low light levels. Tests of prototype scopes indicate that they have application for the visually impaired, and the lens L2 can be adapted for optical scanning, photography, and solar energy collection.

© 1990 Optical Society of America