F-Theta Scanning Lens

For many applications in the field of high-power laser scanning systems it is important to ensure that off-axis focal spots lie on the focal plane, and not, as happens with regular spherical lenses, along a curved surface. F-theta lenses have been developed with this requirement in mind and are designed to focus incoming collimated beams into a focal spot whose lateral displacement ideally depends linearly on the scan angle.

The fast physical optics and design software VirtualLab Fusion provides several tools that allow the optical engineer to examine the performance of a particular f-theta design. These include the Distortion Analyzer, which calculates the deviation between the actual and desired spot positions, and a scanning source that allows for the simultaneous configuration of a set of field-of-view modes with different incident directions, for a more convenient investigation of the system. Furthermore, the powerful Field Tracing engine gives the user the possibility to investigate the behavior of the focal spots (point spread function) with physical optics, which is capable of uncovering additional effects not taken into account with a pure ray tracer.