Claims
- 1. An optical system comprising:
a first optical sub-system; a second optical sub-system; an aperture stop optically disposed between said first optical sub-system and said second optical sub-system; said first optical sub-system being capable of directing incoming electromagnetic radiation to a location of said aperture stop; a beam separating sub-system capable of receiving electromagnetic radiation from said first optical subsystem and separating received electromagnetic radiation into a plurality of beams of electromagnetic radiation, a location of said beam separating sub-system being substantially coincident with the location of said aperture stop; and said second optical sub-system being capable of imaging said plurality of beams of electromagnetic radiation received from said beam separating sub-system into a plurality of images on an image plane.
- 2. The optical system of claim 1 wherein said first optical sub-system, said second optical sub-system, and said beam separating subsystem are designed to substantially correct for chromatic aberrations.
- 3. The optical system of claim 1 further comprising:
a filtering sub-system optically disposed between said second optical sub-system and the image plane.
- 4. The optical system of claim 1 wherein the beam separating sub-system comprises at least one beam separating component and a mid-system filter system.
- 5. The optical system of claim 4 wherein said at least one beam-separating component comprises a plurality of optical elements, each of said elements comprising a facet oppositely located from a substantially flat facet, a normal to each said facet oppositely located from the substantially flat facet being at a preselected angle with respect to a predetermined optical axis.
- 6. The optical system of claim 4 wherein said at least one beam-separating component comprises a single optical element, said element comprising a plurality of facets, each of said facets from the plurality of facets being oppositely located from a single substantially flat facet, a normal to each of said facets from the plurality of facets being at a preselected angle with respect to a predetermined optical axis.
- 7. The optical system of claim 4 wherein the mid-system filter system comprises a plurality of mid-system filters.
- 8. The optical system of claim 7 wherein said first optical sub-system, said second optical sub-system, and said beam separating subsystem are designed to substantially correct for chromatic aberrations.
- 9. The optical system of claim 8 wherein each one of said mid-system filters transmits radiation in a pre-selected band of wavelengths.
- 10. The optical system of claim 7 wherein each one of said mid-system filters transmits radiation of a pre-selected polarization.
- 11. The optical system of claim 7 further comprising:
a filtering sub-system optically disposed between said second optical sub-system and the image plane.
- 12. The optical system of claim 11 wherein said filtering subsystem comprises an output filter system.
- 13. The optical system of claim 12 wherein the output filter system comprises a plurality of output filters, each of said output filters being substantially matched to a corresponding one of said mid-system filters.
- 14. The optical system of claim 13 wherein each of said output filters transmits radiation in a pre-selected band of wavelengths.
- 15. The optical system of claim 13 wherein each one of said mid-system filters transmits radiation of a pre-selected polarization.
- 16. The optical system of claim 5 wherein said plurality of facets comprises a composite convex surface.
- 17. The optical system of claim 5 wherein said plurality of facets comprises a composite concave surface.
- 18. The optical system of claim 5 wherein the beam separating sub-system further comprises:
a first beam-separating component; and, a second beam-separating component; said mid-system filter system having a radiation receiving surface and a radiation emitting surface; said first beam-separating component being capable of receiving the electromagnetic radiation from said first optical sub-system and being capable of providing a plurality of beams of electromagnetic radiation to the radiation receiving surface of said mid-system filter system; and said second beam-separating component being capable of receiving radiation from the radiation emitting surface of said mid-system filter system.
- 19. The optical system of claim 18 wherein:
each one of the substantially flat facets of said first beam-separating component is disposed on the radiation receiving surface of said mid-system filter system; and each one of the substantially flat facets of said second beam-separating component is disposed on the radiation emitting surface of said mid-system filter system.
- 20. The optical system of claim 18 wherein:
each one of the substantially flat facets of said first beam-separating component is oppositely spaced apart from the radiation receiving surface of said mid-system filter system; and each one of the substantially flat facets of said second beam-separating component is oppositely spaced apart from the radiation emitting surface of said mid-system filter system.
- 21. The optical system of claim 18 wherein:
each one of the substantially flat facets of said first beam-separating component is disposed on the radiation receiving surface of said mid-system filter system; and each one of the substantially flat facets of said second beam-separating component is oppositely spaced apart from the radiation emitting surface of said mid-system filter system.
- 22. The optical system of claim 5 wherein:
said at least one beam-separating component further comprises one beam separating component; said mid-system filter system has a radiation receiving and a radiation emitting surface; said first beam-separating component is capable of receiving the radiation from said first optical sub-system and is capable of providing a plurality of beams of electromagnetic radiation to the radiation receiving surface of said mid-system filter system.
- 23. The optical system of claim 22 wherein:
each one of the substantially flat facets of said one beam-separating component is oppositely spaced apart from the radiation receiving surface of said mid-system filter system.
- 24. The optical system of claim 6 wherein said plurality of facets comprises a composite convex surface.
- 25. The optical system of claim 6 wherein said plurality of facets comprises a composite concave surface.
- 26. The optical system of claim 6 wherein the beam separating sub-system further comprises:
a first beam-separating component; a second beam-separating component; said mid-system filter system having a radiation receiving surface and a radiation emitting surface; said first beam-separating component being capable of receiving the electromagnetic radiation from said first optical sub-system and being capable of providing a plurality of beams of electromagnetic radiation to the radiation receiving surface of said mid-system filter system; and, said second beam-separating component being capable of receiving radiation from the radiation emitting surface of said mid-system filter system.
- 27. The optical system of claim 26 wherein:
the substantially flat facet of said first beam-separating component is disposed on the radiation receiving surface of said mid-system filter system; and the substantially flat facet of said second beam-separating component is disposed on the radiation emitting surface of said mid-system filter system.
- 28. The optical system of claim 26 wherein:
the substantially flat facet of said first beam-separating component is oppositely spaced apart from the radiation receiving surface of said mid-system filter system; and the substantially flat facet of said second beam-separating component is oppositely spaced apart from the radiation emitting surface of said mid-system filter system.
- 29. The optical system of claim 26 wherein:
the substantially flat facet of said first beam-separating component is disposed on the radiation receiving surface of said mid-system filter system; and the substantially flat facet of said second beam-separating component is oppositely spaced apart from the radiation emitting surface of said mid-system filter system.
- 30. The optical system of claim 6 wherein:
said at least one beam-separating component comprises one beam separating component; said mid-system filter system has a radiation receiving and a radiation emitting surface; said first beam-separating component is capable of receiving the radiation from said first optical sub-system and is capable of providing a plurality of beams of electromagnetic radiation to the radiation receiving surface of said mid-system filter system.
- 31. The optical system of claim 30 wherein:
the substantially flat facet of said one beam-separating component is oppositely spaced apart from the radiation receiving surface of said mid-system filter system.
- 32. A method for producing multiple images of a single object scene comprising the steps of:
delivering electromagnetic radiation from the single object scene to an aperture stop at a mid-plane; separating into a plurality of beams of electromagnetic radiation the electromagnetic radiation delivered to the mid-plane; focusing the plurality of beams of electromagnetic radiation into a plurality of focused beams focused onto an imaging plane; forming a plurality of images on the imaging plane from said plurality of focused beams.
- 33. The method of claim 32 further comprising the step of:
filtering each one of said plurality of beams of electromagnetic radiation.
- 34. The method of claim 33 further comprising the step of:
filtering each one of said plurality of focused beams.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/363,997 filed on Mar. 14, 2002, which is incorporated by reference herein.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60363997 |
Mar 2002 |
US |