[OPTICAL REVIEW Vol. 16, No. 2 (2009) 116-122]
© 2009 The Optical Society of Japan

Design of Double Cassegrain Reflective Mirrors for Optical System of IR Cameras

Rong Seng CHANG, Sha-Wei WANG1,*, and Pai-Hung CHIEN2

Department of Optics and Photonics, National Central University, 300 Chung-Da Rd., Chung-Li 32001, Taiwan
1Department of Optometry, Jen-Teh Junior College of Medicine, Nursing and Management, Hou-Long, Miaoli 356, Taiwan
2Research and Development Division, Pegatron Corporation, Taiwan

(Received July 13, 2008; Accepted December 5, 2008)

IR optical systems such as Petzval doublet refractive lenses or Cassegrain reflective mirrors are either expensive or poor in image quality. Taking advantage of the low cost of reflective mirrors, here we present an optical design of Double Cassegrain reflective mirrors consisting of two sets of Cassegrain reflectors facing each other symmetrically. This symmetry also cancels many aberrations besides the chromatic aberration-free nature of reflective mirrors. Design results show that this system is better than Cassegrain reflectors in aberration correction and image resolution, but cheaper than Petzval doublet refractive lenses systems in price. IR cameras with this optical system could be widely used for body temperature measurement and security check.

Key words: Petzval doublet, Cassegrain, double Cassegrain, IR camera

*E-mail address: sha.wei@msa.hinet.net

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