Lockheed Martin Corporation
OPTICAL ABERRATION COMPENSATION LENS USING GLASS-CERAMICS AND METHOD OF MAKING

Abstract:

Disclosed herein is an optical aberration compensation lens using glass-ceramics and a method of making the same. The method of manufacturing the optical aberration compensation lens includes applying at least one heat treatment to a base glass material of a base composition to form a glass-ceramic material with a volume filling fraction of one or more species of nanocrystals. This process is glass composition agnostic and can be applied to generate any glass-ceramic composition formed through controlled nucleation and growth. In certain embodiments, the species and/or volume filling fraction of nanocrystals determines the resulting index of refraction and dispersion characteristic. Accordingly, application of different heat treatments (e.g., nucleation temperature, growth temperature, and/or treatment times) to the same base glass material produces different glass-ceramic materials with different optical properties (e.g., index of refraction and/or dispersion characteristic).