Compact Optical Microscope With Folded Wide-Field Imaging

The patent introduces a folding optical path using a semi-reflective coating on a lens surface, effectively adding a dimensional element to the optical system. This allows the light path to fold back on itself, reducing the linear track length while maintaining the required optical path length for imaging. The semi-reflective coating acts as a beam splitter that redirects light at an angle, creating a compact folded configuration instead of a linear arrangement.

The patent implements a nested lens configuration where multiple lens elements are arranged in a compact sequence along the optical axis. The lenses are positioned closely together with optimized spacing, creating a nested arrangement that minimizes the overall track length while maintaining the required optical power and imaging performance across a wide field of view.

The patent applies local quality by using aplanatic lens surfaces with specific curvature radii that are optimized for different regions of the optical field. The lens design incorporates varying curvature and refractive index distributions to correct for field curvature and distortion locally across the wide field of view, ensuring uniform high-quality imaging from center to edge.

The patent employs composite optical design by combining multiple lens elements with different refractive indices and dispersion properties. This composite lens system allows for correction of chromatic aberration and other optical imperfections across the wide field of view, maintaining high image quality throughout the entire field by compensating for local variations in optical performance.

The patent uses aplanatic lens surfaces with specifically calculated curvature radii to locally correct field curvature and distortion. The lens design incorporates surface profiles that vary across the aperture to compensate for off-axis aberrations, maintaining flat field and low distortion across the entire wide field of view through localized optical correction.

The patent optimizes key optical parameters including lens curvature radii, thicknesses, and spacing to minimize distortion and field curvature. By carefully adjusting these parameters in the lens design equations, the system achieves a flat image plane and low distortion across the wide field of view while maintaining compact track length.