Thermal Effects In Optical Systems

Military optical systems must operate over a wide temperature range and the effect of temperature change on the performance of some optical systems is described. Methods used to counteract such variations in optical properties range from servo -controlled motion of the components and bi -metal mounts with reciprocating motions to, as this paper describes, a simple choice of appropriate optical and mount materials. The optical systems considered include single and doublet lenses, laser beam expander and high quality imaging systems.