Diffractive Optical Lenses in Imaging Systems – High-Resolution Microscopy and Diffractive Solid Immersion Systems

Abstract

Mirrors and refraction based lenses are the most dominating basic design elements of imaging optical systems. This fact can be observed over a broad spectrum of optical instruments ranging from low-cost devices, e.g. optical pick-ups in data storage systems, up to high-end systems, e.g. space telescopes or optics for photolithography containing 30 lenses and more. In all these optical systems, the demands on performance, volume and costs are increasing dramatically from one product generation to the next. The search for alternative design approaches becomes more and more important. Here, the combination of diffractive and refractive components to form hybrid systems opens up an enormous potential to overcome the present limitations.