Assembly process of a Ritchey-Chretien (RC) optical system

The Ritchey-Chretien (RC) optical system contains an aspheric primary mirror and secondary mirror, as well as a refractive corrector lens. This flexible structure allows for a wide range of applications. The assembly process for a RC optical system differs from traditional refractive lens systems, as the aspheric reflective primary and secondary mirrors require high centering precision, which necessitates further adjustments during the assembly process. This paper discusses the assembly process for a Ø300mm RC optical system, analyzing the centering precision of the aspheric reflective primary and secondary mirrors. By adjusting the relative position of the primary and secondary mirrors based on the wavefront aberration, the final RMS wavefront aberration of the RC optical system was reduced to 0.054, and the full-field modulation transfer function (MTF) exceeded 0.68. Finally, the paper discusses the manufacturing techniques to improve the centering precision of the aspheric reflective mirrors and enhance the assembly efficiency.