APPLICATION FEATURES OF OPTICAL POLYMERS IN OPTICAL SYSTEMS DESIGN

Subject of Research. The paper considers analysis of mechanical and optical properties of modern optical polymer materials. We present the result of design and quality characteristics of small magnification telescopic glasses, made of modern optical polymers and intended for application in medicine, production of microelectronic circuits, and jewelry. Method. Calculation of telescopic glasses is carried out according to Galileo scheme on the basis of the automated method of aberration correction. The requirements are fulfilled concerning the necessity exception of additional accommodation of eyes at transition from observation with and without glasses, due to the object and image location in one plane. Main Results. The obtained optical system has diffraction image quality, and the mass of fully polymer glasses is two times lower than that of analogues made of glass. Practical Relevance. Modern optical polymers have advanced mechanical and optical properties, and create the perspective of glass component replacement with polymer ones and fabrication of fully polymeric optical systems with high quality characteristics. At the same time, manufacturing technologies of components made of optical polymers provides to obtain surfaces of complex shape (kinoforms, aspherics, and “freeforms”). Technical problems can be solved associated with the scaling of production, reducing of the assembly labor intensity, updating of the design, reducing of the mass and dimensional properties, and the cost of products.