“Precision Glass Molding of Diffractive and Asphero-Diffractive Optical Elements”

The technology for compression molding of high performance glass aspheric optics (<1 inch diameter) is mature. These molding techniques have driven the cost of small aspheric optics, which were once simply unavailable, down to commodity level pricing. These same molding techniques can be applied to the fabrication of molded diffractive and asphero-diffractive surfaces in optical glass. The molding of diffractive surfaces in optical glass provides some unique molding challenges. In order to address these challenges, four (4) primary tasks have been identified. The first is to evaluate the physical limitations of molding diffractive surfaces in glass. The second is to identify optical glass types that are suitable for fabricating molded diffractive surfaces. The third is to determine the current state of optical design software as it applies to modeling the efficiency of diffractive surfaces. The fourth and final task is to conduct prototype molding experiments of a small diameter (<1” diameter) diffractive surface in optical glass. This task will help verify the results from the first three tasks as well as help identify any process related issues at an early stage. This will allow future work (Phase I option, Phase II) to be highly focused and efficient.