Optical System Design: Layout Principles and Practice

Level: Introductory Length: 7 hours Format: In-Person Lecture Intended Audience: This course is intended for engineers, scientists, managers, technicians and students who need to use or design optical systems and want to understand the principles of image formation by optical systems. No previous knowledge of optics is assumed in the material development, and only basic math is used (algebra, geometry and trigonometry). By the end of the course, these techniques will allow the design and analysis of relatively sophisticated optical systems. Description: This course provides the background and principles necessary to understand how optical imaging systems function, allowing you to produce a system layout which will satisfy the performance requirements of your application. This course teaches the methods and techniques of arriving at the first-order layout of an optical system by a process which determines the required components and their locations. This process will produce an image of the right size and in the right location. A special emphasis is placed on understanding the practical aspects of the design of optical systems.
Optical system imagery can readily be calculated using the Gaussian cardinal points or by paraxial ray tracing. These principles are extended to the layout and analysis of multi-component systems. This course includes topics such as imaging with thin lenses and systems of thin lenses, stops and pupils, and afocal systems. The course starts by providing the necessary background and theory of first-order optical design followed by numerous examples of optical systems illustrating the design process and then concludes with a software (e.g. CODE V and Zemax) demonstration. Learning Outcomes: This course will enable you to: - determine the required element diameters. - adapt a known configuration to suit your application. - diagram ray paths and do simple ray tracing. - describe the performance limits imposed on optical systems by diffraction and the human eye. - predict the imaging characteristics of multi-component systems. - apply the layout principles to a variety of optical instruments including telescopes, microscopes, magnifiers, field and relay lenses, zoom lenses, and afocal systems. - grasp the process of the design and layout of an optical system. - specify the requirements of an optical system for your application including magnification, object-to-image distance, and focal length. Instructor(s): Craig Olson , Ph.D. is a Senior Principal Engineer for Areté Associates in Santa Rosa, CA. Prior to joining Areté, he was an Engineering Fellow in Imaging and Optical Systems at L3Harris in Santa Rosa, CA for over 19 years. His experience spans both commercial and government markets, with over 25 years’ experience in managing the full life cycle of a wide variety of reflective and refractive optical systems in the visible and infrared. His practical knowledge spans everything from requirements generation through design, analysis, testing, and production of optical systems with aperture sizes anywhere from 5 to 500 mm. Craig’s musical career spanned 1/17th of a fortnight as bass player for a Spinal Tap and a KISS fusion band with an insufficiently funded makeup budget. He has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Master’s and Ph.D. in Optics from the University of Rochester Institute of Optics. Dr. Olson is a Fellow of SPIE. Event: SPIE Photonics West 2025 Course Held: 29 January 2025