Anamorphic zoom lens based on rotating cylindrical lenses

Abstract

An anamorphic zoom lens is designed for altering the size and aspect ratio of a laser beam. The design is based on using a Galilean beam expander in which the optical elements consist of two rotating cylinders. The rotation of the cylinders allows the spherical and cylindrical powers of the rotating cylindrical lens to be altered in such a manner that the magnification is anamorphic. A simple anamorphic zoom lens based on rotating cylindrical lenses is designed and then implemented. Operation of the anamorphic lens demonstrates a 1 to 1 to 10 to 1 aspect ratio beam conversion.