Optical design study of a VIS-SWIR 3X zoom lens

A design study is compiled for a VIS-SWIR dual band 3X zoom lens. The initial first order design study investigated zoom motion, power in each lens group, and aperture stop location. All designs were constrained to have both the first and last lens groups fixed, with two middle moving groups. The first order solutions were filtered based on zoom motion, performance, and size constraints, and were then modified to thick lens solutions for the SWIR spectrum. Successful solutions in the SWIR were next extended to the VIS-SWIR. The resulting nine solutions are all nearly diffraction limited using either PNNP or PNPZ (“Z” indicating the fourth group has a near-zero power) design forms with two moving groups. Solutions were found with the aperture stop in each of the four lens groups. Fixed f-number solutions exist when the aperture stop is located at the first and last lens groups, while varying f-number solutions occur when it is placed at either of the middle moving groups. Design exploration included trade-offs between parameters such as diameter, overall length, back focal length, number of elements, materials, and performance.