ABERRATIONS

Prof V H THAKKAR
 Outline

 Aberrations
 Spherical aberrations in a lens
 Reducing spherical aberrations
 Coma
 Aplanatic lens
 Astigmatism
 Curvature of the field
 Distortion
 Chromatic aberration
 Achromatic lenses
 Condition for achromatism of two thin lenses separated
by finite lenses
 Aberrations

Introduction:
 Aberration: Deviation from the actual shape,
size and position of the image
 Chromatic Aberration: Due to the variation in
the refractive index of the material with
wavelength of incident light
 Monochromatic Aberrations: Deviation even
when the incident light is monochromatic
 Aberrations

 Aberrations are produced with white light as well as

with monochromatic light
 Aberrations produced by a lens are not due to some
defect in the construction of the lens
 It arises because of the laws of refraction at the
curved surfaces
 So they are inevitable
 The aberrations will be negligible (i) in the case of
lenses having small apertures, (ii) when the incident
rays are paraxial and (iii) when the angle made by
the incident ray with the principal axis is small
 Chromatic Aberration

 As in a raindrop or a prism, different wavelengths of

light are refracted at different angles (higher
frequency/lower wavelength corresponds to greater
bending)
 The light passing through a lens is slightly dispersed,
so objects viewed through lenses will be ringed with
colors
 This is known as chromatic aberration and it will
always be present when a single lens is used with
white light
Chromatic Aberration
Chromatic Aberration
Chromatic Aberration
 Chromatic Aberration

• Different wavelengths of light refracted by a lens

get focused at different points
– Violet rays are refracted at an angle greater than red rays
– The focal length of the lens for red light is greater than
that for violet light
Chromatic Aberration
 Chromatic Aberration

 Chromatic Aberration: LCA

 LCA is the axial (longitudinal) distance between
two focal points for a pair of wavelengths when
incident rays are parallel to the principal axis, from
a source of white light
Chromatic Aberration
 Achromatism

 Chromatic aberration can be minimized by using a

combination of a converging lens and a diverging lens
 Chromatic aberration can be greatly reduced when a
convex lens is combined with a concave lens of a
different refractive index
 The dispersion caused by the convex lens will be
almost cancelled by the dispersion caused by the
concave lens
 A combination such as this is called an achromatic lens
and it is used in all precision optical instruments
Achromatic Doublet
 Achromatic Doublet

 Let, the geometrical factors for lenses L1 and L2 be

G1 and G2 respectively, where
1 1 
G    
 R1 R2 
 Therefore, as per Lens maker’s formula,
1 1 
   1   
1
f  R1 R2 

    1 G
1
f
 Achromatic Doublet

 Let the focal length of lens L1 for C color and F

color of light be f1C and f1F respectively, the
refractive indices for them be 1C and 1F
respectively
 Let their average focal length and average
refractive index be f1 and 1 respectively
 Similar assumptions we can have for lens L2 also
 Achromatic Doublet

 Then,
 1  1 G1
1 1
G1 
f1 f1 1  1

  2  1 G2
1 1
 G2 
 Similarly f2 f 2  2  1

 1C  1 G1  1F  1 G1
1 1
 Also
f1C f1F

  2C  1 G2   2F  1 G2
1 1
f 2C f2F
 Achromatic Doublet

 If the equivalent focal length of the lens

combination for C color and F color of light are FC
and FF respectively, then
1 1 1
 
FC f1C f 2C

 and 1 1 1
 
FF f1 F f 2 F

 But, for the combination to be achromatic

1 1
FC  FF  
FC FF
 Achromatic Doublet

 Therefore,
1 1 1 1
  
f1C f 2C f1F f 2 F

 Substituting the equations of f1C , f1F , f2C and f2F , we

get

μ1C  1 G1  μ2C  1 G2  μ1F  1 G1  μ2 F  1 G2

 1C  1F  G1  2C  2F  G2  0

 Achromatic Doublet

 Substituting the equations for G1 and G2 in this

equation, we get

1C  1F   2C   2F 
 0
f1 1  1 f 2  2  1
 But, by definition

1 
1C  1F 
& 2 
 2C   2F 
1  1 2  1
1 2 1 f1
  0 or 
f1 f2 2 f2
 Achromatic Doublet

 i.e., if the ratio of the dispersive powers of the

material of the two lenses is equal to the ratio of
respective focal lengths, the combination will
behave as an achromatic doublet
 For more than two lenses, the condition is

1 2 3
   ...  0
f2 f2 f3

i
 or i fi
0
Achromatic Combination
Achromatic Combination
 Achromatic Combination

 For a lens combination of two thin lenses separated by

a finite distance, the equivalent focal length is given by,
1 1 1 d
  
f f1 f 2 f1 f 2
 Differentiating this equation on both the sides

1 1 1  d 

d    d    d    d  
f  f1   f 2   f1 f 2 

1 1 1 d 1 d 1

 d    d    d    d    d  
 
f  f1   f 2  f1  f 2  f 2  f1 
 Achromatic Combination

1 1  1
   1       1 G
 But, 1
G 
f  R1 R2  f   1
 Differentiating this equation on both the sides, we get

1 d 
 d    G d  
f f   1 f

 Using this equation in the previous one, we get

1 1 2 d 2 d 1
 2 df    
f f1 f 2 f1 f 2 f 2 f1

 But for an achromatic combination, df  0

 Achromatic Combination

1 2
d 2 d 1
    0
f1 f 2 f1 f 2 f 2 f1
1 2
or  
d
1  2 
f1 f 2 f1 f 2

 If the material of both the lenses is same, then 1  2  

 Hence the condition for the lens combination to be
achromatic is
f1  f 2
d
2

 i.e., the separation between the two lenses should be half

the sum of their focal lengths.
Examples of Chromatic Aberration
Examples of Chromatic Aberration