Lens

A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a

light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a
single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens
consists of several simple lenses (elements), usually arranged
along a common axis. Lenses are made from materials such as
glass or plastic and are ground, polished, or molded to the required
shape. A lens can focus light to form an image, unlike a prism,
which refracts light without focusing. Devices that similarly focus
or disperse waves and radiation other than visible light are also
called "lenses", such as microwave lenses, electron lenses,
acoustic lenses, or explosive lenses.

Lenses are used in various imaging devices such as telescopes,

binoculars, and cameras. They are also used as visual aids in
glasses to correct defects of vision such as myopia and
hypermetropia.
A burning apparatus consisting of
two biconvex lens
History
The word lens comes from lēns, the Latin name of the lentil (a
seed of a lentil plant), because a double-convex lens is lentil-
shaped. The lentil also gives its name to a geometric figure.[a]

Some scholars argue that the archeological evidence indicates that

there was widespread use of lenses in antiquity, spanning several
Light being refracted by a spherical
millennia.[1] The so-called Nimrud lens is a rock crystal artifact
glass container full of water. Roger
dated to the 7th century BCE which may or may not have been
Bacon, 13th century
used as a magnifying glass, or a burning glass.[2][3][4] Others have
suggested that certain Egyptian hieroglyphs depict "simple glass
meniscal lenses".[5]

The oldest certain reference to the use of lenses is from

Aristophanes' play The Clouds (424 BCE) mentioning a burning-
glass.[6] Pliny the Elder (1st century) confirms that burning-
glasses were known in the Roman period.[7] Pliny also has the
earliest known reference to the use of a corrective lens when he
mentions that Nero was said to watch the gladiatorial games using Lens for LSST, a planned sky
an emerald (presumably concave to correct for nearsightedness, surveying telescope
though the reference is vague).[8] Both Pliny and Seneca the Younger (3 BC–65 AD) described the
magnifying effect of a glass globe filled with water.

Ptolemy (2nd century) wrote a book on Optics, which however survives only in the Latin translation of an
incomplete and very poor Arabic translation. The book was, however, received by medieval scholars in
the Islamic world, and commented upon by Ibn Sahl (10th century), who was in turn improved upon by
Alhazen (Book of Optics, 11th century). The Arabic translation of Ptolemy's Optics became available in
Latin translation in the 12th century (Eugenius of Palermo 1154). Between the 11th and 13th century
"reading stones" were invented. These were primitive plano-convex lenses initially made by cutting a
glass sphere in half. The medieval (11th or 12th century) rock crystal Visby lenses may or may not have
been intended for use as burning glasses.[9]

Spectacles were invented as an improvement of the "reading stones" of the high medieval period in
Northern Italy in the second half of the 13th century.[10] This was the start of the optical industry of
grinding and polishing lenses for spectacles, first in Venice and Florence in the late 13th century,[11] and
later in the spectacle-making centres in both the Netherlands and Germany.[12] Spectacle makers created
improved types of lenses for the correction of vision based more on empirical knowledge gained from
observing the effects of the lenses (probably without the knowledge of the rudimentary optical theory of
the day).[13][14] The practical development and experimentation with lenses led to the invention of the
compound optical microscope around 1595, and the refracting telescope in 1608, both of which appeared
in the spectacle-making centres in the Netherlands.[15][16]

With the invention of the telescope and microscope there was a great deal of experimentation with lens
shapes in the 17th and early 18th centuries by those trying to correct chromatic errors seen in lenses.
Opticians tried to construct lenses of varying forms of curvature, wrongly assuming errors arose from
defects in the spherical figure of their surfaces.[17] Optical theory on refraction and experimentation was
showing no single-element lens could bring all colours to a focus. This led to the invention of the
compound achromatic lens by Chester Moore Hall in England in 1733, an invention also claimed by
fellow Englishman John Dollond in a 1758 patent.

Developments in transatlantic commerce were the impetus for the construction of modern lighthouses in
the 18th century, which utilize a combination of elevated sightlines, lighting sources, and lenses to
provide navigational aid overseas. With maximal distance of visibility needed in lighthouses,
conventional convex lenses would need to be significantly sized which would negatively affect the
development of lighthouses in terms of cost, design, and implementation. Fresnel lens were developed
that considered these constraints by featuring less material through their concentric annular sectioning.
They were first fully implemented into a lighthouse in 1823.[18]

Construction of simple lenses

Most lenses are spherical lenses: their two surfaces are parts of the surfaces of spheres. Each surface can
be convex (bulging outwards from the lens), concave (depressed into the lens), or planar (flat). The line
joining the centres of the spheres making up the lens surfaces is called the axis of the lens. Typically the
lens axis passes through the physical centre of the lens, because of the way they are manufactured. Lenses
may be cut or ground after manufacturing to give them a different shape or size. The lens axis may then
not pass through the physical centre of the lens.
Toric or sphero-cylindrical lenses have surfaces with two different radii of curvature in two orthogonal
planes. They have a different focal power in different meridians. This forms an astigmatic lens. An
example is eyeglass lenses that are used to correct astigmatism in someone's eye.

Types of simple lenses

Types of lenses

Lenses are classified by the curvature of the two optical surfaces. A lens is biconvex (or double convex, or
just convex) if both surfaces are convex. If both surfaces have the same radius of curvature, the lens is
equiconvex. A lens with two concave surfaces is biconcave (or just concave). If one of the surfaces is flat,
the lens is plano-convex or plano-concave depending on the curvature of the other surface. A lens with
one convex and one concave side is convex-concave or meniscus. Convex-concave lenses are most
commonly used in corrective lenses, since the shape minimizes some aberrations.

For a biconvex or plano-convex lens in a lower-index medium, a collimated beam of light passing
through the lens converges to a spot (a focus) behind the lens. In this case, the lens is called a positive or
converging lens. For a thin lens in air, the distance from the lens to the spot is the focal length of the lens,
which is commonly represented by f in diagrams and equations. An extended hemispherical lens is a
special type of plano-convex lens, in which the lens's curved surface is a full hemisphere and the lens is
much thicker than the radius of curvature.

Another extreme case of a thick convex lens is a ball lens, whose shape is completely round. When used
in novelty photography it is often called a "lensball". A ball-shaped lens has the advantage of being
omnidirectional, but for most optical glass types, its focal point lies close to the ball's surface. Because of
the ball's curvature extremes compared to the lens size, optical aberration is much worse than thin lenses,
with the notable exception of chromatic aberration.
For a biconcave or plano-concave lens in a lower-index medium, a collimated beam of light passing
through the lens is diverged (spread); the lens is thus called a negative or diverging lens. The beam, after
passing through the lens, appears to emanate from a particular point on the axis in front of the lens. For a
thin lens in air, the distance from this point to the lens is the focal length, though it is negative with
respect to the focal length of a converging lens.

The behavior reverses when a lens is placed in a medium with higher refractive index than the material of
the lens. In this case a biconvex or plano-convex lens diverges light, and a biconcave or plano-concave
one converges it.

Convex-concave (meniscus) lenses can be either positive or negative, depending on the relative
curvatures of the two surfaces. A negative meniscus lens has a steeper concave surface (with a shorter
radius than the convex surface) and is thinner at the centre than at the periphery. Conversely, a positive
meniscus lens has a steeper convex surface (with a shorter radius than the concave surface) and is thicker
at the centre than at the periphery.

An ideal thin lens with two surfaces of equal curvature (also equal in the sign) would have zero optical
power (as its focal length becomes infinity as shown in the lensmaker's equation), meaning that it would
neither converge nor diverge light. All real lenses have a nonzero thickness, however, which makes a real
lens with identical curved surfaces slightly positive. To obtain exactly zero optical power, a meniscus lens
must have slightly unequal curvatures to account for the effect of the lens' thickness.
 Meniscus lenses:
negative (top) and
positive (bottom)

For a spherical surface

For a single refraction for a circular boundary, the relation
between object and its image in the paraxial approximation is
given by[19][20]

where R is the radius of the spherical surface, n2 is the refractive

Simulation of refraction at spherical
index of the material of the surface, n1 is the refractive index of surface at Desmos (https://www.des
medium (the medium other than the spherical surface material), mos.com/calculator/ax4rsqdot0)
is the on-axis (on the optical axis) object distance from the line
perpendicular to the axis toward the refraction point on the surface
(which height is h), and is the on-axis image distance from the line. Due to paraxial approximation
where the line of h is close to the vertex of the spherical surface meeting the optical axis on the left, and
are also considered distances with respect to the vertex.

Moving toward the right infinity leads to the first or object focal length for the spherical surface.
Similarly, toward the left infinity leads to the second or image focal length .[21]

Applying this equation on the two spherical surfaces of a lens and approximating the lens thickness to
zero (so a thin lens) leads to the lensmaker's formula.

Derivation
Applying Snell's law on the spherical surface,
Also in the diagram,

, and using small angle approximation (paraxial approximation)

and eliminating i, r, and θ,

The four cases of spherical

refraction

Lensmaker's equation
The (effective) focal length of a spherical lens in air
or vacuum for paraxial rays can be calculated from
the lensmaker's equation:[22][23]

The position of the focus of a spherical lens

depends on the radii of curvature of the two
facets.

where

is the refractive index of the lens material;

is the (signed, see below) radius of curvature of the lens surface closer to the light
source;
is the radius of curvature of the lens surface farther from the light source; and
is the thickness of the lens (the distance along the lens axis between the two surface
vertices).
The focal length is with respect to the principal planes of the lens, and the locations of the principal
planes and with respect to the respective lens vertices are given by the following formulas,
where it is a positive value if it is right to the respective vertex.[23]

The focal length is positive for converging lenses, and negative for diverging lenses. The reciprocal of
the focal length, is the optical power of the lens. If the focal length is in metres, this gives the
optical power in dioptres (reciprocal metres).

Lenses have the same focal length when light travels from the back to the front as when light goes from
the front to the back. Other properties of the lens, such as the aberrations are not the same in both
directions.

Sign convention for radii of curvature R1 and R2

The signs of the lens' radii of curvature indicate whether the corresponding surfaces are convex or
concave. The sign convention used to represent this varies,[24] but in this article a positive R indicates a
surface's center of curvature is further along in the direction of the ray travel (right, in the accompanying
diagrams), while negative R means that rays reaching the surface have already passed the center of
curvature. Consequently, for external lens surfaces as diagrammed above, R1 > 0 and R2 < 0 indicate
convex surfaces (used to converge light in a positive lens), while R1 < 0 and R2 > 0 indicate concave
surfaces. The reciprocal of the radius of curvature is called the curvature. A flat surface has zero
curvature, and its radius of curvature is infinite.

Sign convention for other parameters

Sign convention for Gaussian lens equation[25]

Parameter Meaning + Sign − Sign

so The distance between an object and a lens. Real object Virtual object

si The distance between an image and a lens. Real image Virtual image

Conversing
f The focal length of a lens.
lens
Diverging lens

Inverted
yo The height of an object from the optical axis. Erect object
object

Inverted
yi The height of an image from the optical axis Erect image
image

The transverse magnification in imaging ( = the ratio of yi to Inverted

MT Erect image
yo ). image
This convention seems to be mainly used for this article, although there is another convention such as
Cartesian sign convention (http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/geoopt/lenseq.html#c2) requiring
different lens equation forms.

Thin lens approximation

If d is small compared to R1 and R2 then the thin lens approximation can be made. For a lens in air, f is
then given by[26]

Derivation
The spherical thin lens equation in paraxial approximation is
derived here with respect to the right figure.[26] The 1st spherical
lens surface (which meets the optical axis at as its vertex)
images an on-axis object point O to the virtual image I, which can
be described by the following equation,

A Diagram for a Spherical Lens

Equation with Paraxial Rays.
For the imaging by second lens surface, by taking the above sign
convention, and

Adding these two equations yields

For the thin lens approximation where the 2nd term of the RHS (Right Hand Side) is gone, so

The focal length of the thin lens is found by limiting

So, the Gaussian thin lens equation is

For the thin lens in air or vacuum where can be assumed, becomes
where the subscript of 2 in is dropped.

Imaging properties
As mentioned above, a positive or converging lens in air focuses a collimated beam travelling along the
lens axis to a spot (known as the focal point) at a distance f from the lens. Conversely, a point source of
light placed at the focal point is converted into a collimated beam by the lens. These two cases are
examples of image formation in lenses. In the former case, an object at an infinite distance (as
represented by a collimated beam of waves) is focused to an image at the focal point of the lens. In the
latter, an object at the focal length distance from the lens is imaged at infinity. The plane perpendicular to
the lens axis situated at a distance f from the lens is called the focal plane.

Lens equation
For paraxial rays, if the distances from an object to a spherical thin lens (a lens of negligible thickness)
and from the lens to the image are S1 and S2 respectively, the distances are related by the (Gaussian) thin
lens formula:[27][28][29]

The right figure shows how the image of an object

point can be found by using three rays; the first ray
parallelly incident on the lens and refracted toward the
second focal point of it, the second ray crossing the
optical center of the lens (so its direction does not
change), and the third tray toward the first focal point
and refracted to the direction parallel to the optical
axis. This is a simple ray tracing method easily used.
Two rays among the three are sufficient to locate the
image point. By moving the object along the optical
axis, it is shown that the second ray determines the Single thin lens imaging with chief rays
image size while other rays help to locate the image
location.

The lens equation can also be put into the "Newtonian" form:[25]

where and is positive if it is left to the front focal point , and is

positive if it is right to the rear focal point . Because is positive, an object point and the
corresponding imaging point made by a lens are always in opposite sides with respect to their respective
focal points. ( and are either positive or negative.)
This Newtonian form of the lens equation can be derived by using a similarity between triangles P1PO1F1
and L3L2F1 and another similarity between triangles L1L2F2 and P2P02F2 in the right figure. The
similarities give the following equations and combining these results gives the Newtonian form of the
lens equation.

The above equations also hold for thick lenses

(including a compound lens made by multiple lenses,
that can be treated as a thick lens) in air or vacuum
(which refractive index can be treated as 1) if , ,
and are with respect to the principal planes of the
lens ( is the effective focal length in this case).[23]
This is because of triangle similarities like the thin lens
case above; similarity between triangles P1PO1F1 and A diagram of imaging with a single thick lens
L3H1F1 and another similarity between triangles imaging. H1 and H2 are principal points where
L1'H2F2 and P2P02F2 in the right figure. If distances principal planes of the thick lens cross the optical
axis. If the object and image spaces are the
S1 or S2 pass through a medium other than air or
same medium, then these points are also nodal
vacuum, then a more complicated analysis is required. points.

If an object is placed at a distance

S1 > f from a positive lens of focal
length f, we will find an image at a
distance S2 according to this formula.
If a screen is placed at a distance S2
on the opposite side of the lens, an
image is formed on it. This sort of
image, which can be projected onto a
screen or image sensor, is known as a
real image. This is the principle of the
camera, and also of the human eye, in A camera lens forms a real image of a distant object.
which the retina serves as the image
sensor.

The focusing adjustment of a camera adjusts S2, as using an image distance different from that required
by this formula produces a defocused (fuzzy) image for an object at a distance of S1 from the camera. Put
another way, modifying S2 causes objects at a different S1 to come into perfect focus.

In some cases, S2 is negative, indicating that the image is formed on the opposite side of the lens from
where those rays are being considered. Since the diverging light rays emanating from the lens never come
into focus, and those rays are not physically present at the point where they appear to form an image, this
is called a virtual image. Unlike real images, a virtual image cannot be projected on a screen, but appears
to an observer looking through the lens as if it were a real object at the location of that virtual image.
Likewise, it appears to a subsequent lens as if it were an object at that location, so that second lens could
again focus that light into a real image, S1
then being measured from the virtual image
location behind the first lens to the second
lens. This is exactly what the eye does when
looking through a magnifying glass. The
magnifying glass creates a (magnified) virtual
image behind the magnifying glass, but those
rays are then re-imaged by the lens of the eye
to create a real image on the retina.

Using a positive lens of focal length f, a

virtual image results when S1 < f, the lens
thus being used as a magnifying glass (rather Virtual image formation using a positive lens as a
than if S1 ≫ f as for a camera). Using a magnifying glass.[30]
negative lens (f < 0) with a real object
(S1 > 0) can only produce a virtual image
(S2 < 0), according to the above formula.
It is also possible for the object distance S1
to be negative, in which case the lens sees a
so-called virtual object. This happens when
the lens is inserted into a converging beam A Barlow lens (B) reimages a
A negative lens produces a virtual object (focus of red ray
(being focused by a previous lens) before demagnified virtual image. path) into a magnified real
the location of its real image. In that case
image (green rays at focus)
even a negative lens can project a real
image, as is done by a Barlow lens.

For a given lens with the focal length f, the minimum distance between an object and the real image is 4f
(S1 = S2 = 2f). This is derived by letting L = S1 + S2, expressing S2 in terms of S1 by the lens equation (or
expressing S1 in terms of S2), and equating the derivative of L with respect to S1 (or S2) to zero. (Note
that L has no limit in increasing so its extremum is only the minimum, at which the derivate of L is zero.)

Magnification
The linear magnification of
an imaging system using a
single lens is given by

Real image of a lamp is A convex lens (f ≪ S1) forming a real,

projected onto a screen inverted image (as the image formed by
(inverted). Reflections of the the objective lens of a telescope or
lamp from both surfaces of the binoculars) rather than the upright, virtual
biconvex lens are visible. image as seen in a magnifying glass
(f > S1). This real image may also be
viewed when put on a screen.
where M is the magnification factor defined as the ratio of the size of an image compared to the size of
the object. The sign convention here dictates that if M is negative, as it is for real images, the image is
upside-down with respect to the object. For virtual images M is positive, so the image is upright.

This magnification formula provides two easy ways to distinguish converging (f > 0) and diverging
(f < 0) lenses: For an object very close to the lens (0 < S1 < |f|), a converging lens would form a
magnified (bigger) virtual image, whereas a diverging lens would form a demagnified (smaller) image;
For an object very far from the lens (S1 > |f| > 0), a converging lens would form an inverted image,
whereas a diverging lens would form an upright image.

Linear magnification M is not always the most useful measure of magnifying power. For instance, when
characterizing a visual telescope or binoculars that produce only a virtual image, one would be more
concerned with the angular magnification—which expresses how much larger a distant object appears
through the telescope compared to the naked eye. In the case of a camera one would quote the plate scale,
which compares the apparent (angular) size of a distant object to the size of the real image produced at
the focus. The plate scale is the reciprocal of the focal length of the camera lens; lenses are categorized as
long-focus lenses or wide-angle lenses according to their focal lengths.

Using an inappropriate measurement of magnification can be formally correct but yield a meaningless
number. For instance, using a magnifying glass of 5 cm focal length, held 20 cm from the eye and 5 cm
from the object, produces a virtual image at infinity of infinite linear size: M = ∞. But the angular
magnification is 5, meaning that the object appears 5 times larger to the eye than without the lens. When
taking a picture of the moon using a camera with a 50 mm lens, one is not concerned with the linear
magnification M ≈ −50 mm / 380 000 km = −1.3 × 10−10. Rather, the plate scale of the camera is
about 1°/mm, from which one can conclude that the 0.5 mm image on the film corresponds to an angular
size of the moon seen from earth of about 0.5°.

In the extreme case where an object is an infinite distance away, S1 = ∞, S2 = f and M = −f/∞ = 0,
indicating that the object would be imaged to a single point in the focal plane. In fact, the diameter of the
projected spot is not actually zero, since diffraction places a lower limit on the size of the point spread
function. This is called the diffraction limit.
Images of black letters in a thin convex lens of focal length f are shown in red.
Selected rays are shown for letters E, I and K in blue, green and orange,
respectively. E (at 2f) has an equal-size, real and inverted image; I (at f) has its
image at infinity; and K (at f/2) has a double-size, virtual and upright image. Note
that the images of letters H, I, J, and i are located far away from the lens such that
they are not shown here. What is also shown here that the ray that is parallelly
incident on the lens and refracted toward the second focal point f determines the
image size while other rays help to locate the image location.

Table for thin lens imaging properties

Images of Real Objects Formed by Thin Lenses[25]

Lateral
Object Image Image
Lens Type Image Location Image Remark
Location Type Magnification
Orientation

Real (rays
Converging Inverted
converging
lens (or (opposite to
to each Minified
positive the object
image
lens) orientation)
point)
Converging
Real Inverted Same size
lens

Converging
Real Inverted Magnified
lens

Converging
lens
Converging Virtual Erect (same Magnified As an
lens (rays to the object object
apparently orientation) moves to
diverging the lens,
from each the virtual
image image
point) also gets
closer to
the lens
while the
image
 size is
reduced.

Diverging
lens (or
Anywhere Virtual Erect Magnified
negative
lens)

Aberrations
Lenses do not form perfect images, and always introduce some degree of distortion or aberration that
makes the image an imperfect replica of the object. Careful design of the lens system for a particular
application minimizes the aberration. Several types of aberration affect image quality, including spherical
aberration, coma, and chromatic aberration.

Spherical aberration
Spherical aberration occurs because spherical surfaces are not the ideal shape for a lens, but are by far
the simplest shape to which glass can be ground and polished, and so are often used. Spherical aberration
causes beams parallel to, but laterally distant from, the lens axis to be focused in a slightly different place
than beams close to the axis. This manifests itself as a blurring of the image. Spherical aberration can be
minimised with normal lens shapes by carefully choosing the surface curvatures for a particular
application. For instance, a plano-convex lens, which is used to focus a collimated beam, produces a
sharper focal spot when used with the convex side towards the beam source.

Coma
Coma, or comatic aberration, derives its name from the comet-like appearance of the aberrated image.
Coma occurs when an object off the optical axis of the lens is imaged, where rays pass through the lens at
an angle to the axis θ. Rays that pass through the centre of a lens of focal length f are focused at a point
with distance f tan θ from the axis. Rays passing through the outer margins of the lens are focused at
different points, either further from the axis (positive coma) or closer to the axis (negative coma). In
general, a bundle of parallel rays passing through the lens at a fixed distance from the centre of the lens
are focused to a ring-shaped image in the focal plane, known as a comatic circle (see each circle of the
image in the below figure). The sum of all these circles results in a V-shaped or comet-like flare. As with
spherical aberration, coma can be minimised (and in some cases eliminated) by choosing the curvature of
the two lens surfaces to match the application. Lenses in which both spherical aberration and coma are
minimised are called bestform lenses.

Chromatic aberration
Chromatic aberration is caused by the dispersion of the lens material—the variation of its refractive
index, n, with the wavelength of light. Since, from the formulae above, f is dependent upon n, it follows
that light of different wavelengths is focused to different positions. Chromatic aberration of a lens is seen
as fringes of colour around the image. It can be minimised by using an achromatic doublet (or achromat)
in which two materials with differing dispersion are bonded together to form a single lens. This reduces
the amount of chromatic aberration over a certain range of wavelengths, though it does not produce
perfect correction. The use of achromats was an important step in the development of the optical
microscope. An apochromat is a lens or lens system with even better chromatic aberration correction,
combined with improved spherical aberration correction. Apochromats are much more expensive than
achromats.

Different lens materials may also be used to minimise chromatic aberration, such as specialised coatings
or lenses made from the crystal fluorite. This naturally occurring substance has the highest known Abbe
number, indicating that the material has low dispersion.
Other types of aberration
Other kinds of aberration include field curvature, barrel and pincushion distortion, and astigmatism.

Aperture diffraction
Even if a lens is designed to minimize or eliminate the aberrations described above, the image quality is
still limited by the diffraction of light passing through the lens' finite aperture. A diffraction-limited lens
is one in which aberrations have been reduced to the point where the image quality is primarily limited by
diffraction under the design conditions.

Compound lenses
Simple lenses are subject to the optical aberrations discussed above. In many cases these aberrations can
be compensated for to a great extent by using a combination of simple lenses with complementary
aberrations. A compound lens is a collection of simple lenses of different shapes and made of materials of
different refractive indices, arranged one after the other with a common axis.

In a multiple-lens system, if the purpose of the system is to image an object, then the system design can
be such that each lens treats the image made by the previous lens as an object, and produces the new
image of it, so the imaging is cascaded through the lenses.[31][32] As shown above, the Gaussian lens
equation for a spherical lens is derived such that the 2nd surface of the lens images the image made by the
1st lens surface. For multi-lens imaging, 3rd lens surface (the front surface of the 2nd lens) can image the
image made by the 2nd surface, and 4th surface (the back surface of the 2nd lens) can also image the
image made by the 3rd surface. This imaging cascade by each lens surface justifies the imaging cascade
by each lens.

For a two-lens system the object distances of each lens can be denoted as and , and the image
distances as and and . If the lenses are thin, each satisfies the thin lens formula

If the distance between the two lenses is , then . (The 2nd lens images the image of the
first lens.)

FFD (Front Focal Distance) is defined as the distance between the front (left) focal point of an optical
system and its nearest optical surface vertex.[33] If an object is located at the front focal point of the
system, then its image made by the system is located infinitely far way to the right (i.e., light rays from
the object is collimated after the system). To do this, the image of the 1st lens is located at the focal point
of the 2nd lens, i.e., . So, the thin lens formula for the 1st lens becomes[34]

BFD (Back Focal Distance) is similarly defined as the distance between the back (right) focal point of an
optical system and its nearest optical surface vertex. If an object is located infinitely far away from the
system (to the left), then its image made by the system is located at the back focal point. In this case, the
1st lens images the object at its focal point. So, the thin lens formula for the 2nd lens becomes

A simplest case is where thin lenses are placed in contact ( ). Then the combined focal length f of
the lenses is given by

Since 1/f is the power of a lens with focal length f, it can be seen that the powers of thin lenses in contact
are additive. The general case of multiple thin lenses in contact is

where is the number of lenses.

If two thin lenses are separated in air by some distance d, then the focal length for the combined system
is given by

As d tends to zero, the focal length of the system tends to the value of f given for thin lenses in contact. It
can be shown that the same formula works for thick lenses if d is taken as the distance between their
principal planes.[23]

If the separation distance between two lenses is equal to the sum of their focal lengths (d = f1 + f2), then
the FFD and BFD are infinite. This corresponds to a pair of lenses that transforms a parallel (collimated)
beam into another collimated beam. This type of system is called an afocal system, since it produces no
net convergence or divergence of the beam. Two lenses at this separation form the simplest type of optical
telescope. Although the system does not alter the divergence of a collimated beam, it does alter the
(transverse) width of the beam. The magnification of such a telescope is given by

which is the ratio of the output beam width to the input beam width. Note the sign convention: a telescope
with two convex lenses (f1 > 0, f2 > 0) produces a negative magnification, indicating an inverted image.
A convex plus a concave lens (f1 > 0 > f2) produces a positive magnification and the image is upright.
For further information on simple optical telescopes, see Refracting telescope § Refracting telescope
designs.

Non spherical types

Cylindrical lenses have curvature along only one axis. They are used to
focus light into a line, or to convert the elliptical light from a laser diode
into a round beam. They are also used in motion picture anamorphic
lenses.

Aspheric lenses have at least one surface that is neither spherical nor
cylindrical. The more complicated shapes allow such lenses to form
images with less aberration than standard simple lenses, but they are more
difficult and expensive to produce. These were formerly complex to make
and often extremely expensive, but advances in technology have greatly
reduced the manufacturing cost for such lenses.

A Fresnel lens has its optical surface broken up into narrow rings,
allowing the lens to be much thinner and lighter than conventional lenses.
Durable Fresnel lenses can be molded from plastic and are inexpensive.
An aspheric biconvex lens.
Lenticular lenses are arrays of microlenses that are used in lenticular
printing to make images that have an illusion of depth or that change when
viewed from different angles.
Bifocal lens has two or more, or a graduated, focal lengths
ground into the lens.

A gradient index lens has flat optical surfaces, but has a radial
or axial variation in index of refraction that causes light passing
through the lens to be focused.

An axicon has a conical optical surface. It images a point

source into a line along the optic axis, or transforms a laser Close-up view of a flat Fresnel lens.
beam into a ring.[35]

Diffractive optical elements can function as lenses.

Superlenses are made from negative index metamaterials and claim to produce images at spatial
resolutions exceeding the diffraction limit.[36] The first superlenses were made in 2004 using such a
metamaterial for microwaves.[36] Improved versions have been made by other researchers.[37][38] As of
2014 the superlens has not yet been demonstrated at visible or near-infrared wavelengths.[39]

A prototype flat ultrathin lens, with no curvature has been developed.[40]

Uses
A single convex lens mounted in a frame with a handle or stand is
a magnifying glass.

Lenses are used as prosthetics for the correction of refractive

errors such as myopia, hypermetropia, presbyopia, and
astigmatism. (See corrective lens, contact lens, eyeglasses,
intraocular lens.) Most lenses used for other purposes have strict
axial symmetry; eyeglass lenses are only approximately
A watch with a plano-convex lens
symmetric. They are usually shaped to fit in a roughly oval, not
over the date indicator
circular, frame; the optical centres are placed over the eyeballs;
their curvature may not be axially symmetric to correct for
astigmatism. Sunglasses' lenses are designed to attenuate light; sunglass lenses that also correct visual
impairments can be custom made.

Other uses are in imaging systems such as monoculars, binoculars, telescopes, microscopes, cameras and
projectors. Some of these instruments produce a virtual image when applied to the human eye; others
produce a real image that can be captured on photographic film or an optical sensor, or can be viewed on
a screen. In these devices lenses are sometimes paired up with curved mirrors to make a catadioptric
system where the lens's spherical aberration corrects the opposite aberration in the mirror (such as
Schmidt and meniscus correctors).

Convex lenses produce an image of an object at infinity at their focus; if the sun is imaged, much of the
visible and infrared light incident on the lens is concentrated into the small image. A large lens creates
enough intensity to burn a flammable object at the focal point. Since ignition can be achieved even with a
poorly made lens, lenses have been used as burning-glasses for at least 2400 years.[6] A modern
application is the use of relatively large lenses to concentrate solar energy on relatively small photovoltaic
cells, harvesting more energy without the need to use larger and more expensive cells.

Radio astronomy and radar systems often use dielectric lenses, commonly called a lens antenna to refract
electromagnetic radiation into a collector antenna.

Lenses can become scratched and abraded. Abrasion-resistant coatings are available to help control
this.[41]

See also
Anti-fogging treatment of optical surfaces
Back focal plane
Bokeh
Cardinal point (optics)
Caustic (optics)
Eyepiece
F-number
Gravitational lens
Lens (anatomy)
List of lens designs
Numerical aperture
Optical coatings
Optical lens design
Photochromic lens
Prism (optics)
Ray tracing
Ray transfer matrix analysis

Notes
a. The variant spelling lense is sometimes seen. While it is listed as an alternative spelling in
some dictionaries, most mainstream dictionaries do not list it as acceptable.
Brians, Paul (2003). Common Errors in English (https://archive.org/details/commonerrors
inen0000bria/page/125). Franklin, Beedle & Associates. p. 125 (https://archive.org/detail
s/commonerrorsinen0000bria/page/125). ISBN 978-1-887902-89-2. Retrieved 28 June
2009. Reports "lense" as listed in some dictionaries, but not generally considered
acceptable.
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary (https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780877799146/
page/368). Merriam-Webster. 1995. p. 368 (https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780877799
146/page/368). ISBN 978-0-87779-914-6. Lists "lense" as an acceptable alternate
spelling.
"Lens or Lense – Which is Correct?" (https://writingexplained.org/lens-or-lense).
writingexplained.org. 30 April 2017. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20180421163
426/https://writingexplained.org/lens-or-lense) from the original on 21 April 2018.
 Retrieved 21 April 2018. Analyses the almost negligible frequency of use and concludes
that the misspelling is a result of a wrong singularisation of the plural (lenses).

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Bibliography
Hecht, Eugene (1987). Optics (https://archive.org/details/optics0000hech) (2nd ed.).
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Hecht, Eugene (2002). Optics (4th ed.). Addison Wesley. ISBN 978-0-321-18878-6.
Greivenkamp, John E. (2004). Field Guide to Geometrical Optics. SPIE Field Guides vol.
FG01. SPIE. ISBN 978-0-8194-5294-8.

External links
A chapter from an online textbook on refraction and lenses (http://www.lightandmatter.com/h
tml_books/5op/ch04/ch04.html) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20091217113846/htt
p://www.lightandmatter.com/html_books/5op/ch04/ch04.html) 17 December 2009 at the
Wayback Machine
Thin Spherical Lenses (http://www.physnet.org/modules/pdf_modules/m223.pdf) Archived (h
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20200313051457/http://www.physnet.org/modules/pdf_modules/
m223.pdf) 13 March 2020 at the Wayback Machine (.pdf) on Project PHYSNET (http://www.
physnet.org/) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20170514213748/http://www.physnet.or
g/) 14 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine.
Lens article at digitalartform.com (https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054022/http://www.
digitalartform.com/lenses.htm)
Article on Ancient Egyptian lenses (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11624467/#:~:text=Th
e%20lenses%20were%20ground%20from,sense%2C%20these%20were%20multifocal%20
lenses.) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20220525041434/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.ni
h.gov/11624467/#:~:text=The%20lenses%20were%20ground%20from,sense%2C%20thes
e%20were%20multifocal%20lenses.) 25 May 2022 at the Wayback Machine
FDTD Animation of Electromagnetic Propagation through Convex Lens (on- and off-axis)
Video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4COYF4by8Sc) on YouTube
 The Use of Magnifying Lenses in the Classical World (https://www.academia.edu/467038/Th
e_Use_of_Magnifying_Lenses_in_the_Classical_World) Archived (https://web.archive.org/w
eb/20171113201612/http://www.academia.edu/467038/The_Use_of_Magnifying_Lenses_in
_the_Classical_World) 13 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine
Henker, Otto (1911). "Lens" (https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Brit
annica/Lens). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). pp. 421–427. (with 21 diagrams)

Simulations
Learning by Simulations (http://www.vias.org/simulations/simusoft_lenses.html) Archived (htt
ps://web.archive.org/web/20100121063732/http://www.vias.org/simulations/simusoft_lenses.
html) 21 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine – Concave and Convex Lenses
OpticalRayTracer (http://www.arachnoid.com/OpticalRayTracer/) Archived (https://web.archi
ve.org/web/20101006040411/http://www.arachnoid.com/OpticalRayTracer/) 6 October 2010
at the Wayback Machine – Open source lens simulator (downloadable java)
Animations demonstrating lens (http://qed.wikina.org/lens/) Archived (https://web.archive.or
g/web/20120404024718/http://qed.wikina.org/lens/) 4 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine by
QED

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lens&oldid=1255153384"