GEOMETRIC OPTICAL LIMITS IN THE SYNTHESIS OF PLANAR KINOFORM LENSES FOR AXIAL STIGMATISM

The phenomenon of total internal reflection sets practical limits for blazing in the case of transmission gratings. Similar effects can be o bserved in the case of kinoform lenses. The effects manifest themselve s in limiting the object distance, the image distance, or the semidiam eter of the kinoform lens. These limits are set by the refractive inde x of the kinoform material and the imaging geometry. This paper presen ts the results of our investigations on various aspects of these geome tric optical limits in the case of planar kinoform lenses for stigmati c imaging between any two prespecified points on the axis.