Low polarization on-axis three-mirror reflective optical systems initial configuration designed by genetic algorithms

Low polarization systems have important advantages in many applications. Thanks to be with seven free design parameters, three-mirror reflective systems have good potential to achieve low polarization. A general method to design low polarization on-axis three-mirror systems is proposed in this paper. Based on genetic algorithms, the initial configurations of on-axis three-mirror systems with both low polarization aberrations and good wave aberrations can be found. In order to make the design results meet different requirements, various constraints are included in the merit functions, such as diattenuation, retardance, wave aberrations, structure size, intermediate image plane and flat focal plane. Different merit functions generate different optimal results. The method proposed in this paper is versatile and can be used to design other types of optical systems that demand low polarization.