Index gradients.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Rochester. College of Engineering and Applied Science. Institute of Optics. This thesis was digitized by the Institute of Optics in 2014 and was determined to have lapsed into the public domain. If you are the author and have questions about the digitization of your work, please contact Kari Brick, Graduate Program Coordinator for the Institute of Optics, at kbrick@ur.rochester.edu. Other contact information for the Institute is available at http://www.optics.rochester.eduThe use of a continuously varying index of refraction provides new degrees of freedom in the design of lens systems. By using the third order aberration theory developed by Sands, the effectiveness of these new degrees of freedom in correcting third order aberrations is determined. Having casted the theory in a form suitable for a computer, two major designs are done. The first is a singlet with an axial gradient which is corrected for third order spherical and comatic aberrations and has no third order distortion. A radial gradient is used in a singlet to correct all third order monochromatic aberrations excepting Petzval curvature of field. Three checks of the work confirm the results. The first involves a boundary condition problem while the other two are raytrace analyses. The results of the study indicate that axial gradients have the same effect as aspheric surfaces. The study also shows that radial gradients are more effective gradients in aberration correction than an axial gradient and have a greater potential in lens design