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Article

Optical Design and Lens Fabrication for Automotive Thermal Imaging Using Chalcogenide Glass

School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Gwangju University, Gwangju 61743, Republic of Korea
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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Micromachines 2025, 16(8), 901; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi16080901 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 29 June 2025 / Revised: 25 July 2025 / Accepted: 26 July 2025 / Published: 31 July 2025

Abstract

This paper is about the design and fabrication of infrared lenses, which are the core components of thermal imaging cameras to be mounted on vehicles. To produce an athermalized optical system, chalcogenide glass (As40Se60) with a lower thermo-optic coefficient (dn/dT) than germanium was adopted as a lens material, and each lens was designed so that defocus occurs in opposite directions depending on temperature. The designed lens was fabricated using a compression molding method, and the molded lenses showed less than 1.5 μm of form error (PV) using a mold iteration process. Through evaluations of MTF and thermal images obtained from the lens module, it was judged that this optical design process is obtainable.
Keywords: automotive thermal imaging cameras; molded IR lens; chalcogenide glass; athermalization of optical system; compression molding automotive thermal imaging cameras; molded IR lens; chalcogenide glass; athermalization of optical system; compression molding

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MDPI and ACS Style

Choi, Y.-S.; Kim, J.-K. Optical Design and Lens Fabrication for Automotive Thermal Imaging Using Chalcogenide Glass. Micromachines 2025, 16, 901. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi16080901

AMA Style

Choi Y-S, Kim J-K. Optical Design and Lens Fabrication for Automotive Thermal Imaging Using Chalcogenide Glass. Micromachines. 2025; 16(8):901. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi16080901

Chicago/Turabian Style

Choi, Young-Soo, and Ji-Kwan Kim. 2025. "Optical Design and Lens Fabrication for Automotive Thermal Imaging Using Chalcogenide Glass" Micromachines 16, no. 8: 901. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi16080901

APA Style

Choi, Y.-S., & Kim, J.-K. (2025). Optical Design and Lens Fabrication for Automotive Thermal Imaging Using Chalcogenide Glass. Micromachines, 16(8), 901. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi16080901

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