Design studies of varifocal rotation optics

We present the design of a varifocal freeform optics consisting of two lens bodies each with a helical-type surface structure of azimuthally varying curvatures. This arrangement allows for tuning the optical refraction power by means of a mutual rotation of the lens bodies around the optical axis. Thus, the refraction power can be tuned continuously in a defined range. The shape of the helical-type surfaces is formed by a change in curvature subject to the azimuthal angle alpha. At the transition of the azimuthal angle from alpha = 2 pi to alpha = 0, a surface discontinuity appears. Since this discontinuity will seriously affect the imaging quality, it has to be obscured. In the initial state, i.e., zero-degree rotation, the curvatures of the opposing surfaces result in a specific refraction power, which is constant over the entire circular aperture. Rotating one of the lens bodies by an angle phi around the optical axis will change the opposing curvatures and result in a change of refraction power. Two circular sectors with different tunable optical refraction powers are formed, thus resulting in a tunable bifocal optics. Obscuring the minor sector will result in a tunable monofocal rotation optics. In contrast to conventional tunable lens systems, where additional space for axial or lateral lens movement has to be allocated in design, rotation optics allowing for a more compact design. A performance analysis of the rotation optics based on simulations is presented in dependence on aperture size as well as approaches to compensate for spherical aberrations. (C) The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.