Commercial applications of liquid optical elements

In this paper, we report on our work at Lockheed in designing, fabricating, and testing lenses using liquid optical elements to achieve apochromatic color correction without using abnormally dispersive optical glasses and/or calcium fluoride. We have found that designs using liquid optical elements have equivalent or superior optical performance and a cost savings for the lens assembly between 3:1 and 10:1, depending on the diameter. We have also developed designs with apochromatic color correction using plastic and liquid optical elements, a procedure which greatly reduces the weight of the lens as well as its cost. The principle is simple: we eliminate expensive abnormally dispersive glasses and crystals and replace them with inexpensive abnormally dispersive liquids. Designs we have developed include photographic objectives, telescope objectives, and lenses for use in the ultraviolet and infrared spectral regions. An apochromatic telescope objective has been put into production under license from Lockheed and is now available commercially. This paper includes specific design examples.