TY - JOUR
T1 - Advances in the design and manufacturing of novel freeform optics
AU - Kumar, Sumit
AU - Tong, Zhen
AU - Jiang, Jane
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to acknowledge the scholarship received from the UK’s EPSRC Future Metrology Hub (Ref.: EP/P006930/1) on Mr Sumit Kumar’s PhD study.
Funding Information:
The authors gratefully acknowledge the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funding of Future Metrology Hub (Ref.: EP/P006930/1), the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Innovation Partnership Scheme (IPS) project under Grant Agreement No. ST/V001280/1, and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 767589.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd on behalf of the IMMT.
PY - 2022/9/1
Y1 - 2022/9/1
N2 - Freeform optics has become the most prominent element of the optics industry. Advanced freeform optical designs supplementary to ultra-precision manufacturing and metrology techniques have upgraded the lifestyle, thinking, and observing power of existing humans. Imaginations related to space explorations, portability, accessibility have also witnessed sensible in today's time with freeform optics. Present-day design methods and fabrications techniques applicable in the development of freeform optics and the market requirements are focussed and explained with the help of traditional and non-traditional optical applications. Over the years, significant research is performed in the emerging field of freeform optics, but no standards are established yet in terms of tolerances and definitions. We critically review the optical design methods for freeform optics considering the image forming and non-image forming applications. Numerous subtractive manufacturing technologies including figure correction methods and metrology have been developed to fabricate extreme modern freeform optics to satisfy the demands of various applications such as space, astronomy, earth science, defence, biomedical, material processing, surveillance, and many more. We described a variety of advanced technologies in manufacturing and metrology for novel freeform optics. Next, we also covered the manufacturing-oriented design scheme for advanced optics. We conclude this review with an outlook on the future of freeform optics design, manufacturing and metrology.
AB - Freeform optics has become the most prominent element of the optics industry. Advanced freeform optical designs supplementary to ultra-precision manufacturing and metrology techniques have upgraded the lifestyle, thinking, and observing power of existing humans. Imaginations related to space explorations, portability, accessibility have also witnessed sensible in today's time with freeform optics. Present-day design methods and fabrications techniques applicable in the development of freeform optics and the market requirements are focussed and explained with the help of traditional and non-traditional optical applications. Over the years, significant research is performed in the emerging field of freeform optics, but no standards are established yet in terms of tolerances and definitions. We critically review the optical design methods for freeform optics considering the image forming and non-image forming applications. Numerous subtractive manufacturing technologies including figure correction methods and metrology have been developed to fabricate extreme modern freeform optics to satisfy the demands of various applications such as space, astronomy, earth science, defence, biomedical, material processing, surveillance, and many more. We described a variety of advanced technologies in manufacturing and metrology for novel freeform optics. Next, we also covered the manufacturing-oriented design scheme for advanced optics. We conclude this review with an outlook on the future of freeform optics design, manufacturing and metrology.
KW - freeform optics
KW - optical design
KW - optical fabrication
KW - ultra-precision machining
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85134690528&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1088/2631-7990/ac7617
DO - 10.1088/2631-7990/ac7617
M3 - Article
VL - 4
JO - International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing
JF - International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing
SN - 2631-8644
IS - 3
M1 - 032004
ER -
