Alignment of Large-Aperture Infrared Refractive Optical Systems Utilizing Multi-Zone CGH-Assisted Centering

High-precision centering alignment of the lens is crucial for ensuring the imaging quality of refractive optical systems. A multi-zone computer-generated hologram (MZ-CGH) was designed and utilized for centering a large-aperture refractive infrared lens. Different from traditional methods that use the line connecting the geometric centers of lens spheres as the optical axis for alignment, the minimization of transmitted wavefront aberrations detected via interferometry is employed as the target for lens centering. According to the structure design, the large-aperture lens is divided into a front barrel integrated with lenses 1–3, a back barrel integrated with lenses 4–5, and a separated lens 6. An MZ-CGH contains three main zones with compensation information for testing the transmitted wavefront of lenses 1–3, according to the alignment and centering sequence. The method is applied to align and analyze errors in an infrared optical system with a clear aperture of 400 mm, achieving lens decenter errors better than 5 μm. After alignment, the wavefront errors of the infrared optical system within ±7° of the field of view are better than RMS 0.07λ, with an average MTF higher than 0.5, demonstrating significant value for engineering applications.