Wide-field compact catadioptric telescope spanning 0.7-14 μm wavelengths.

We present a wide-field compact f-1.2, f-1.6 effective illumination catadioptric telescope that spans the wavelengths 0.7-14.0 μm. Such a telescope replaces several telescopes designed for different infrared bands, while having a track length shorter than most single-band telescopes. Incorporated with a suitable multiband focal plane array, many wavelength bands may be imaged simultaneously in the same instrument. We have constructed and tested prototypes of the telescopes and found the performance is near the predicted values.