An Inverse Method for the Design of Freeform Double-Reflector Imaging Systems

Abstract

We propose an inverse method to design two-dimensional freeform imaging systems. We present the mathematical model to design a parallel-to-point double-reflector imaging system using inverse methods from nonimaging optics. We impose an imaging condition on the energy distributions at the source and target of the optical system. Our freeform design is compared to the classical Schwarzschild telescope, which is well-known for minimizing third-order aberrations. A raytracer using quasi-interpolation is employed to test the performance of both designs by comparing the spot sizes corresponding to on-axis and off-axis light rays. We show that the inverse freeform design outperforms the classical design.