Off-the-shelf optical systems design enabled by an evolution strategy: front stop case

Commercial off-the-shelf optics enable economic and rapid solutions in the photonics industry
and academia. However, the design of optical systems with off-the-shelf optics is a time-consuming
task for experienced optical designers and hopeless for novice designers. In this paper, we propose
an automatic optical design tool to generate optical systems using only off-the-shelf optical
components without human assistance. Our solution is based on an evolution strategy (ES) that
performs a discrete combinatorial optimization following optical design-based methodologies that
satisfy user-defined specifications. Unlike the conventional methods, the algorithm decreases the
design process time and provides optical designers with several optical solutions from where to
choose and adapt for targeted applications. In this work, the ES is described and tested with front
stop optical configurations. We demonstrate the broad solution domain of the algorithm through
the generation of optical systems with F-numbers within a range F/1 to F/90 and field of views up
to 300 mm at the image plane. To analyze the solution domain and the characteristics of the
solution, we used the design specifications of 29 commercially available scan lenses and compared
the performance of different ES parameters. The compatibility of our algorithm with (standard)
commercially available optical design software unlocks automatic design tools for off-the-shelf
optical systems.