A new GRIN lens design paradigm based on wavefront matching

GRadient INdex (GRIN) optics has revolutionized the field of lens design by providing an unparalleled amount of design freedom, resulting in high-performance optical systems. Unfortunately, this design freedom leads to a large number of parameters in multi-element systems, since the GRIN distributions need to be described in addition to the lens geometries. This can lead to slow convergence and stagnation for even the most robust numerical optimizers. This paper proposes a modular, black-box design paradigm which allows for the optimization of each element in the system independently. This leads to an efficient strategy to design all-GRIN systems from scratch, or to replace existing homogeneous doublets and triplets in a system with GRIN singlets.