Design of freeform mirrors using the concentric rings method.

Through the methodology of optical surface design based on concentric rings, this paper proposes the design of freeform mirrors, initially by employing segmented rings, each of them with different spherical radii of curvature, and then by employing segmented conic rings with different conic constants in each of the segments. These surfaces will then produce the desired images. For the case of segmented spherical rings, mathematical expressions were deduced to obtain the image points as a function of the radii of curvature.

Tunable multilayered lens made of PDMS with a biconical surface profile design and manufacture.

A polymer that has been used for the development of optical components and has had a significant impact is polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) due to its remarkable mechanical and optical properties and easy handling. We present a practical and straightforward technique for designing and manufacturing a tunable graded index, graphical input (GRIN)-type lenses, and tunable lenses with a homogeneous refractive index made of PDMS. Implementing a biconical surface profile in a tunable plane-convex lens is proposed for elaborating both a homogeneous refractive index lens and a multilayered GRIN-type lens with a constant increased variation of 0.

PDMS samples characterization with variations of synthesis parameters for tunable optics applications.

PDMS has become a frequently used material in the elaboration of optical components such as: variable focal length liquid lenses, optical waveguides, solid elastic lenses, etc. In this work we describe the elaboration of PDMS samples, and we present the physical and optical properties of the material when a variation on its synthesis parameters (mixture ratio of base: curing agent, curing temperature and curing time) is implemented during their elaboration. Tensile and compressive tests were carried out to obtain the corresponding stress-strain curves of the material, and UV-Vis spectroscopy was applied to obtain transmittance and absorbance curves of the samples.