A new method for designing diffractive optical elements (DOEs), based
on the diffraction theory is reported. The method does not require com
plex computation and programming. The DOE can be easily designed accor
ding to simple formulas and has higher imaging accuracy. The DOE diffr
action coefficient depends on taking the complex amplitude transmissio
n. (C) 1998 Society of Photo-Optical instrumentation Engineers. [S0091
-3286(98)01405-6].