Author : Ali H. Al-Hamdani and Raghad I.Ibrahim

This paper will cover the design of an athermal lens mount for an infrared objective. This objective will need to be able to survive a space environment. It will experience large temperature changes and needs to remain in focus so imaging can occur continuously. The lens will image the earth through wavelengths of (3-5) micron. Normal optical glass does not transmit in this range so infrared glasses were used in the optical design. Infrared glasses tend to have high changes in refractive index under temperature changes and thus tend to cause defocus in infrared optical systems. So the athermalization becomes the difficult part and key factor in the designing of IR optical systems for working under temperature range of -20°C~60°C. ZEMAX will be used to determine the change in focus through the expected temperature changes in Earth orbit.

Keywords: Athermalization, Optical Systems etc.

Article published in International Journal of Current Engineering and Technology, Vol.5, No.5 (Oct-2015)