DESIGN, MODELING AND TESTING OF OPTICAL SURFACES IN ILLUMINATION OPTICS

Abstract

This dissertation investigates design, modeling and testing methods of optical surfaces in illumination optics.The main focus of this dissertation is to investigate the faceted non-imaging specular light reflector that is often used to generate a uniform, incoherent illuminance distribution. General design methodologies of faceted light reflectors are overviewed. Several design examples of faceted light reflectors including a novel LED flashlight, a novel microscope illuminator and a 20-m segmented paraboloidal solar collector are discussed and analyzed.An accurate source model is important for illumination system design. In this dissertation, an analytic short-arc source modeling method is developed and integrated in the illumination design software ZEMAX.In addition to the design and modeling work, this dissertation explores a flexible, low-cost and robust Software Configurable Optical Test System (SCOTS) for testing specular free-form surfaces that are often used in illumination systems. The application of this testing system in measuring a 3-m segmented paraboloidal solar reflector is investigated. Preliminary SCOTS test results for an F/0.2 concave automotive headlight reflector are introduced. In addition to testing the surfaces of illumination optics using SCOTS, the applications of SCOTS in the measurement of large, high precision optics are also explored and briefly discussed.