Most camera lenses refract light, leading to the familiar cylindrical tube geometry. In some cases, where extended focal length or reduced track length are required, concentric mirrors can be used to effectively reduce barrel length. Recent advances in diamond machining and image processing make it possible to take this approach to a new extreme. With up to 8 reflections, large ray angles, and a lens shaped more like a lens cap than a tube, so-called Origami Optics allowed researchers at the UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering to squeeze long focal lengths into a thin package and still collect enough light for fast, sharp exposures. Applications may range from compact imagers for micro-UAV surveillance craft to a miniature telephoto lens for future cell phones. "Our imager is about seven times more powerful than a conventional lens of the same depth," says Eric Tremblay, a UCSD electrical and computer engineering graduate student and the first author of a recent Applied Optics paper describing the new technology. Tremblay works with professor Joseph Ford in the Photonic Systems Integration Lab at the Jacobs School. The research is funded by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) as part of the "MONTAGE" imager program.
Have a story suggestion? Want to be featured on Engineering TV?
Send us a tip at: EngineeringTV@Penton.com!