Optimal design in optics

This project is done in collaboration with 3M and a student Svetlana Rudnaya. The problem we worked on is to find a thin film diffractive optical element that produces a desired intensity pattern on a screen from a given light source.

Because of the manufacturing constraints, we had to solve this as an integer programming problem. We used Genetic Algorithms to solve this although we are exploring other methods.

We are now investigating other issues such as robustness of the design under manufacturing flaws. Other results can be found in Svetlana's PhD thesis. More results are to come.

Reference material

  1. Optimal design of minimally reflective coatings. (with H. Konstanty), Wave Motion, Vol. 21 (1995), pages 291--309.
  2. Optimal design of a diffractive optical element (with S. Rudnaya and A. Chiarelli), (view)
  3. Application of a Micro-Genetic Algorithm in optimal design of a diffractive optical element. (with S. Rudnaya), System Modelling and Optimization, M.J.D. Powell and S. Scholtes, editors, Kluwer, 2000. (view)
  4. Asymptotic Analysis and Design of Diffractive Optical Elements (with S. Rudnaya, A. Chiareli, and D. Misemer), J. Engineering Mathematics, 43 (2002), 255-279. (view)
  5. Rational Design of a Diffractive Homogenizer for a Laser Beam (with D. Misemer and S. Rudnaya), J. Engineering Mathematics, 43 (2002), 189-199. (view)
  6. Minimax design of optically transparent and reflective coatings. (with G. Erdmann), to appear in J. Opt. Soc. Am. A. (view)