title: Refractive index variation in compression molding of precision glass optical components.
abstract: Compression molding of glass optical components is a high volume near net-shape precision fabrication method. In a compression molding process, a variation of the refractive index occurs along the radial direction of the glass component due to thermal treatment. The variation of refractive index is an important parameter that can affect the performance of optical lenses, especially lenses used for high precision optical systems. Refractive index variations in molded glass lenses under different cooling conditions were investigated using both an experimental approach and a numerical simulation. Specifically, refractive index variations inside molded glass lenses were evaluated by measuring optical wavefront variations with a Shack-Hartmann sensor system. The measured refractive index variations of the molded glass lenses were compared with the numerical simulation as a validation of the modeling approach.
authors.affiliation: Department of Industrial, Welding and Systems Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Lijuan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Allen Y
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.forename: Fritz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Klocke
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pongs