Passive Athermalization of Compact IR Lenses for Accurate Measurements and Visualization of Temperature Fields

This paper reviews the development of athermalized compact infrared lenses for applications in precision temperature measurements and visualization of temperature fields. The main scientific problem under consideration is the simultaneous achromatization and athermalization of the lens, which is achieved by the appropriate selection of optical materials and optimization of the optical scheme. Various athermalization methods are analyzed to minimize aberrations and maintain high contrast and energy concentration in the image in a temperature range from -20°C to +60°C. The presented results demonstrate the potential of the newly designed lenses for a wide range of metrology applications, including infrared thermal cameras for temperature measurement and thermal imaging.