Design of secondary optics for IRED in active night vision systems.

An effective optical design method is proposed to solve the problem of adjustable view angle for infrared illuminator in active night vision systems. A novel total internal reflection (TIR) lens with three segments of the side surface is designed as the secondary optics of infrared emitting diode (IRED). It can provide three modes with different view angles to achieve a complete coverage of the monitored area. As an example, a novel TIR lens is designed for SONY FCB-EX 480CP camera. Optical performance of the novel TIR lens is investigated by both numerical simulation and experiments. The results demonstrate that it can meet the requirements of different irradiation distances quit well with view angles of 7.5°, 22° and 50°. The mean optical efficiency is improved from 62% to 75% and the mean irradiance uniformity is improved from 65% to 85% compared with the traditional structure.

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