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Open AccessArticle
Optical Design and Lens Fabrication for Automotive Thermal Imaging Using Chalcogenide Glass
by
Young-Soo Choi
Young-Soo Choi and
Ji-Kwan Kim
Ji-Kwan Kim *
School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Gwangju University, Gwangju 61743, Republic of Korea
*
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.
Share and Cite
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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