Multiscale lens design

While lenses of aperture less than 1000 lambda frequently form images with pixel counts approaching the space-bandwidth limit, only heroic designs approach the theoretical information capacity at larger scales. We propose to use the field processing capabilities of small-scale secondary lens arrays to correct aberrations due to larger scale objective lenses, with an ultimate goal of achieving diffraction-limited imaging for apertures greater than 10,000 lambda. We present an example optical design using an 8 mm entrance pupil capable of resolving 20 megapixels. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America