Large diffractive/refractive apertures for space and airborne telescopes

Abstract

Recent work, specifically the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory(LLNL) Eyeglass and the DARPA MOIRE programs, have evaluatedlightweight, easily packaged and deployed, diffractive/refractivemembrane transmissive lenses as entrance apertures for large space andairborne telescopes. This presentation describes a new, innovativeapproach to the theory of diffractive and refractive effects in lensesused as telescope entrance apertures and the fabrication of thenecessary large membrane optics. Analyses are presented to indicate howa broadband, highly transmissive diffractive / refractive membrane lenscan be developed and fabricated, and potential applications in defenseand astronomy are briefly discussed.