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  Institut für Technische Optik
  Universität Stuttgart
  Pfaffenwaldring 9
  70569 Stuttgart
  Deutschland
  Tel:  ++49 (0)711/685-66074
  Fax: ++49 (0)711/685-66586
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Design and simulation of hybrid optical systems

Hybrid optical systems

Many modern optical systems for imaging, metrology or medical diagnostics are based on a combination of technologies. This for example includes a combination of:

  • different optical manufacturing technologies, such as diffractive and refractive components.
  • spectral and conventional imaging (hyperspectral imaging). 
  • classical imaging and post-processing of data by image processing (computational imaging).
  • different metrology principles, such as microscopy and OCT principles.
  • different scales, like combination of nano-, micro- and macro-optical components.    

This combination of  different technologies require the optical designer to include physical effects and post-processing into the optimization of the optical system, i.e. into the merit function.   

 Optical system simulation and optimization over different scales

The employment of micro-optics or diffractive optical elements require the designer to include a realistic modeling of diffraction and wave-optical effects into the design, and preferably also into the optimization loop. The same problem needs to be solved if multi-physics simulations (e.g. FEM-deformations or heating models) shall be included in the optical system optimization. Commercial design tools are not equipped with such functionality, therefore new methods are required.  

Fig. 1: Optimization loop diagram including multi-physics, diffractive and wave-optical effects during system optimization.

 Multimodal optical systems

Similar complex optimization tasks result if the optical system offers many degrees of freedom (e.g. programmable spatial light modulators) or is combined with a post-processing algorithm (computational imaging).  Also in this case the construction of the merit function is not trivial and needs to include the degrees of freedom of the system and sometimes even the image-processing algorithm.

 

Fig. 2: Schematic illustration of a multi-modal system offering active manipulation possibilities within the pupils or field planes.