19mm focal length athermalization lens and imaging device

The 19mm focal length athermal lens with passive athermalization design, using chalcogenide glass lens and aspherical technology, solves the defocus problem of infrared lenses when the temperature changes, and achieves miniaturization and low-cost high-efficiency imaging.

CN120703949APending Publication Date: 2025-09-26CHENGDU JINGPIN NIGHT VISION OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO LTD
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Patent Information

Application Number
CN202511069520.2
Authority / Receiving Office
CN · China
Patent Type
Applications(China)
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2025-07-31
Publication Date
2025-09-26

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

When the ambient temperature changes, infrared lenses suffer from severe defocusing due to changes in the thermal expansion coefficient and refractive index of the lens material. Active athermalization increases the size of the lens, and there is a lack of effective passive athermalization solutions.

Method used

This 19mm focal length athermalized lens utilizes a passive athermalization design. It utilizes two positive meniscus lenses with their convex surfaces facing the object side, combined with an aspheric surface and an anti-reflection coating to meet specific aspheric formulas. Made of chalcogenide glass, it achieves athermalization using only two lenses.

Benefits of technology

The lens maintains good imaging quality over a wide temperature range, has a simple structure and low cost, and is conducive to miniaturization design.

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Abstract

The invention discloses an athermalized lens with a focal length of 19 mm. The F number is 1.0, the maximum aperture is 23 mm, the working wave band is 8-12 [mu] m, and the horizontal field angle range 2w is 29 degrees. The athermalization lens with the focal length of 19 mm comprises a first lens and a second lens which are sequentially arranged in the optical axis transmission direction, the first lens and the second lens are meniscus positive lenses with the convex faces facing the object side, and the air interval between the first lens and the second lens is 12.26 mm. The lens is athermalized in a passive athermalization mode, only two lenses are used, the structure is simple, the cost is low, and miniaturization design is facilitated. The invention further discloses an imaging device.
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Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application belongs to the field of infrared optical equipment technology, and specifically relates to a 19mm focal length athermal lens and an imaging device. Background Art

[0002] Typical infrared lenses require an operating temperature range of -40°C to 60°C. However, due to the large thermal expansion coefficient and temperature variation coefficient of the infrared lens material, changes in ambient temperature can significantly alter the refractive index, surface curvature, thickness, and spacing between adjacent lenses. This can cause significant defocusing in the infrared lens. Active athermalization increases the size of the infrared lens. Therefore, there is an urgent need for an infrared lens that uses passive athermalization to achieve athermalization. Summary of the Invention

[0003] Based on this, the present application provides a 19mm focal length athermal lens and imaging device that achieve athermalization through passive athermalization.

[0004] The technical solutions proposed in this application are: A 19mm focal length athermal lens has an F-number of 1.0, a maximum aperture of 23mm, an operating band of 8-12μm, and a horizontal field of view angle range of 2w=29°. The 19mm focal length athermal lens includes a first lens and a second lens arranged in sequence along the transmission direction of the optical axis, the first lens and the second lens are both positive meniscus lenses with the convex surface facing the object side, and the air gap between the first lens and the second lens is 12.26mm.

[0005] The lens adopts passive athermalization to achieve athermalization of the lens and uses only two lenses. It has a simple structure, low cost and is conducive to miniaturization design.

[0006] Furthermore, the center thickness of the first lens is 4.2 mm, the curvature radius of the object side is 16.37 mm, and the curvature radius of the image side is 17.59 mm; the center thickness of the second lens is 3.5 mm, the curvature radius of the object side is 15.39 mm, and the curvature radius of the image side is 20.11 mm.

[0007] Furthermore, an aperture is provided between the first lens and the second lens, the air gap between the first lens and the aperture is 7.44 mm, and the air gap between the aperture and the second lens is 4.82 mm.

[0008] Furthermore, the first lens and the second lens are both made of chalcogenide glass.

[0009] Furthermore, surfaces of the first lens and the second lens are both coated with anti-reflection films.

[0010] Furthermore, all surfaces of the first lens and the second lens are aspherical and satisfy the aspherical formula: Among them, Z is the distance vector height from the aspheric surface vertex when the aspheric surface is at a height r along the optical axis; c=1 / R; R is the paraxial curvature fitting radius of the mirror surface; k is the cone coefficient; A, B, C, D, and E are high-order aspheric coefficients.

[0011] Furthermore, the image-side surface of the first lens is a binary surface, and the binary surface includes an aspherical surface and a diffractive surface.

[0012] An imaging device includes the 19mm focal length athermal lens and a detector for receiving images formed by the 19mm focal length athermal lens.

[0013] Furthermore, the total optical length of the imaging device is 29.48 mm.

[0014] Furthermore, the detector is a non-cooled detector, and the number of pixels is 640*512, and the pixel size is 12μm. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] The accompanying drawings are used to provide further understanding of the present application and constitute a part of the specification. Together with the embodiments of the present application, they are used to explain the present application and do not constitute a limitation of the present application.

[0016] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the structure of a 19mm focal length athermal lens provided in one embodiment of the present application; Figure 2 for Figure 1 The MTF graph of the 19mm focal length athermal lens at 20°C is shown; Figure 3 for Figure 1 The MTF graph of the 19mm focal length athermal lens at -40°C is shown; Figure 4 for Figure 1 The MTF graph of the 19mm focal length athermalized lens at 60°C is shown; Figure 5 for Figure 1 The spot diagram of the athermalized lens with a 19mm focal length at 20°C is shown; Figure 6 for Figure 1 The spot diagram of the 19mm focal length athermalized lens at -40°C is shown; Figure 7 for Figure 1 Shown is the spot diagram of an athermalized lens with a 19mm focal length at 60°C.

[0017] Description of labels: 11. First lens; 12. Second lens; 11. Aperture stop; 21. Protective window; 22. Image plane. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] To make the above-mentioned objects, features, and advantages of the present application more clearly understood, the specific embodiments of the present application are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following description sets forth many specific details to facilitate a full understanding of the present application. However, the present application can be implemented in many other ways than those described herein, and those skilled in the art can make similar improvements without violating the scope of the present application. Therefore, the present application is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed below.

[0019] Furthermore, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of the technical features being referred to. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of such features. Throughout the description of this application, "plurality" means at least two, for example, two, three, etc., unless otherwise specifically defined.

[0020] One embodiment of the present application provides an imaging device comprising a 19mm focal length athermalized lens (hereinafter referred to as the lens) and a detector capable of receiving images generated by the lens. The lens has an F-number of 1.0, a maximum aperture of 23mm, an operating wavelength range of 8-12μm, and a horizontal field of view of 2w = 29°. The detector is an uncooled detector with 640*512 pixels and a pixel size of 12μm.

[0021] like Figure 1 As shown, the lens includes a first lens 11 and a second lens 12, arranged sequentially along the optical axis. Both first lens 11 and second lens 12 are positive meniscus lenses with their convex surfaces facing the object side. Furthermore, the air gap between first lens 11 and second lens 12 is 12.26 mm, and the air gap between second lens 12 and the detector is 8.23 ​​mm.

[0022] Furthermore, an aperture 13 is provided between the first lens 11 and the second lens 12 . The air gap between the first lens 11 and the aperture 13 is 7.44 mm, and the air gap between the aperture 13 and the second lens 12 is 4.82 mm.

[0023] In one embodiment, the detector includes a protective window 21 and an image plane 22 arranged in sequence. Figure 1In the figure, the light beam passes through the first lens 11 and the second lens 12 from left to right, and then passes through the protective window 21 to form an image on the image plane 22. The air gap between the second lens 12 and the protective window 21 is 8.23 ​​mm, and the air gap between the protective window 21 and the image plane 22 is 0.29 mm.

[0024] Furthermore, in combination with the above data, it can be seen that the total optical length of the imaging device is 29.48 mm and the back focus is 9.52 mm.

[0025] In one embodiment, the center thickness of the first lens is 4.2 mm, the radius of curvature of the object side surface is 16.37 mm, and the radius of curvature of the image side surface is 17.59 mm; the center thickness of the second lens is 3.5 mm, the radius of curvature of the object side surface is 15.39 mm, and the radius of curvature of the image side surface is 20.11 mm.

[0026] In one embodiment, the first lens 11 and the second lens 12 are both made of chalcogenide glass, specifically IRG203 for the first lens 11 and IRG209 for the second lens 12. Furthermore, all surfaces of the first lens 11 and the second lens 12, namely, the object-side and image-side surfaces of the first lens 11 and the object-side and image-side surfaces of the second lens 12, are coated with an antireflection coating.

[0027] It should be noted that the specific parameters of the above lenses can be found in Table 1. Figure 1 In the figure, the light beam passes through the first lens 11 and the second lens 12 from left to right, and then passes through the protective window 21 to form an image on the image plane 22. The left surface of the first lens 11 is the object side surface, numbered S1, and the right surface is the image side surface, numbered S2. The left surface of the second lens 12 is the object side surface, numbered S3, and the right surface is the image side surface, numbered S4.

[0028] Table 1 Lens parameters In one embodiment, all surfaces of the first lens 11 and the second lens 12 are aspherical and satisfy the aspherical formula: Where Z is the distance from the aspheric surface vertex to the aspheric surface at a height r along the optical axis; c = 1 / R; R is the paraxial curvature fitting radius of the mirror surface; k is the conic coefficient; A, B, C, D, and E are the higher-order aspheric coefficients. The above aspheric surface data is shown in Table 2.

[0029] Table 2 Aspheric surface data In one embodiment, the image side surface of the first lens 11 is a binary surface, and the binary surface includes an aspheric surface and a diffractive surface. Specifically, the image side surface of the first lens 11 satisfies the expression equation of the binary surface in Zemax: M(B1ρ 2 +B2ρ 4 ), where M is the diffraction order, B1 and B2 are the binary surface phase coefficients, and ρ is the normalized radius. The binary surface data are shown in Table 3.

[0030] Table 3 Two-dimensional surface data See also Figures 2 to 7 , Figure 2 This is the MTF diagram of the lens at 20°C. Figure 3 This is the MTF diagram of the lens at -40℃. Figure 4 This is the MTF diagram of the lens at 60°C; Figure 5 is the spot diagram of the lens at 20°C, Figure 6 This is the spot diagram of the lens at -40°C. Figure 7 The spot diagram of the lens at 60°C is shown in the figure. As can be seen from the attached figure, the average MTF of the lens over the entire field of view is greater than 0.3, indicating good imaging quality.

[0031] In summary, the imaging device provided herein has a lens with a focal length of 19mm, an F-number of 1.0, a maximum aperture of 23mm, an operating wavelength range of 8-12μm, a horizontal field of view of 2w = 29°, and an uncooled detector with 640*512 pixels and a pixel size of 12μm. This lens utilizes passive athermalization to achieve athermalization, and uses only two lenses, resulting in a simple structure, low cost, and favorable miniaturization.

[0032] Although the embodiments of the present application have been shown and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions and variations may be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present application, and the scope of the present application is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A 19mm focal length athermal lens, characterized in that: The F number is 1.0, the maximum aperture is 23mm, the operating band is 8~12μm, and the horizontal field of view angle range is 2w=29°; the 19mm focal length athermal lens includes a first lens and a second lens arranged in sequence along the transmission direction of the optical axis, the first lens and the second lens are both meniscus positive lenses with the convex surface facing the object side, and the air gap between the first lens and the second lens is 12.26mm.

2. The 19mm focal length athermal lens according to claim 1, wherein: The center thickness of the first lens is 4.2 mm, the radius of curvature of the object side is 16.37 mm, and the radius of curvature of the image side is 17.59 mm; the center thickness of the second lens is 3.5 mm, the radius of curvature of the object side is 15.39 mm, and the radius of curvature of the image side is 20.11 mm.

3. The 19mm focal length athermal lens according to claim 1, wherein: An aperture is provided between the first lens and the second lens. The air gap between the first lens and the aperture is 7.44 mm, and the air gap between the aperture and the second lens is 4.82 mm.

4. The 19mm focal length athermal lens according to claim 1, wherein: The first lens and the second lens are both made of chalcogenide glass.

5. The 19mm focal length athermal lens according to claim 1, wherein: Surfaces of the first lens and the second lens are both coated with antireflection films.

6. The 19mm focal length athermal lens according to claim 1, wherein: All surfaces of the first lens and the second lens are aspherical and satisfy the aspherical formula: Among them, Z is the distance vector height from the aspheric surface vertex when the aspheric surface is at a height r along the optical axis; c=1 / R; R is the paraxial curvature fitting radius of the mirror surface; k is the cone coefficient; A, B, C, D, and E are high-order aspheric coefficients.

7. The 19mm focal length athermal lens according to claim 6, wherein: The image-side surface of the first lens is a binary surface, and the binary surface includes an aspherical surface and a diffractive surface.

8. An imaging device, characterized in that: The invention comprises the 19mm focal length athermal lens according to any one of claims 1 to 7 and a detector for receiving images formed by the 19mm focal length athermal lens.

9. The imaging device according to claim 8, wherein The total optical length of the imaging device is 29.48 mm.

10. The imaging device according to claim 8, wherein The detector is a non-cooled detector, and the number of pixels is 640*512, and the pixel size is 12μm.