With the pressure towards lower cost manufacturing and assembly, the majority of camera lenses today do not have optical compensators beyond simple focus. Additionally, many of the higher volume, lower cost applications utilize newer and less stable manufacturing processes. Due to the large volumes, relative process instability, and the minimal degrees of freedom for compensation, there is a strong need for system desensitization based on understanding the achievable manufacturing tolerances. FiveFocal has considerable experience developing and using application and lens specific DFM (design for manufacturing) approaches that ultimately increase the yield of the mass produced product [See Reference – Bates 2010].
An example of the impact of our approach (labeled Desensitized Solution) is compared to the best on paper design shown below.
The plot above shows yield as a function of as-built MTF. If the module specification is an MTF of 70% at Nyquist/4, the yield of the nominal design is 60% and the yield of the desensitized lens is 95%.
FiveFocal’s experience in DFM and advanced lens design includes:
- Miniature camera lenses – Visible and LWIR with low z height and resolutions up to 10MP. Designs have been based on both traditional optics in a barrel and wafer level optics manufacturing technologies.
- Wide field systems for security, automotive and endoscopy – Systems with field of views ranging from 90° to 180°.
- Zoom lenses – With zoom factors ranging from 3 – 10X.
- Optics for computational systems including Extended Depth of Field, Computational AutoFocus and Zoom with no moving parts – Includes both passive and active approaches.
- Reflective, multi-channel telescope designs – Including monolithic and segmented adaptive primaries.
- LWIR and MWIR objectives – Includes uncooled as well as cooled systems with cold stops and dewars.
If you are interested in discussing your custom lens, lens design or consulting needs, CONTACT US.