Freeform Mirror Design for Novel Laser Warning Receivers and Laser Angle of Incidence Sensors

Abstract

In this paper, we present a novel configuration of an optical angle-of-incidence (AOI) sensor based on the application of a freeform mirror. The main challenge in designing this mirror was to provide a strictly linear transformation between AOI and the spatial position of the spot created on the linear detector array. Another two goals of this paper were to minimize stray light issues (improve the dynamic range) and create an intermediate focus and lateral shift in the detector position with respect to the plane of incidence. From an optical point of view, the designed mirror can thus be understood as the composition of three components: a high-numerical-aperture (NA) fully achromatic f-theta lens in one cross-section and a perfectly focusing lens, combined with a deviating prism in the second (orthogonal) cross-section. In comparison to the standard “shade” methods, the proposed approach allows a constant angular resolution to be maintained over the entire field of view. The mirror was designed on the basis of fundamental geometrical rules by numerically solving differential problems using an innovative scheme based on the minimization of the specific merit function. The proposed method was practically applied to design a freeform mirror for a 90°/120° field-of-view sensor, showing a satisfactory performance.