Abstract

The Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) is widely used for the evaluation of optical systems. The design goal of optical systems is usually specified by values of the MTF. On the other hand, the merit function for the optimization is usually constructed with aberration target functions. It may be expected that a good solution is directly achieved, if the merit function is constructed with MTF target functions[1]. But the efficient optimization of the MTF merit function is difficult because the MTF has much more non-linearity than ordinary aberrations. Moreover the calculation of the MTF is much more time-consuming than the calculation of aberrations. In the actual design process, designers generally adjust the target values and weights of aberration target functions to get better MTF values. In this situation the high speed of a computer cannot be fully utilized because the intervention of a designer is frequently necessary.

© 2002 Optical Society of America