Design method of zoom systems based on high-order structural aberration coefficients

Optical zoom systems have found widespread applications in fields such as security and mobile phone lenses. The theory of zoom lens design has also developed from the first order to the third order. To address the demands for large aperture, wide field, and aspheric surfaces, a zoom system design method based on high-order structural aberration coefficients is introduced. Initially, the structural aberration forms, encompassing intrinsic aberrations, extrinsic aberrations, and aspheric aberrations, were derived using existing high-order aberration theory. The fifth-order aberration contributions of the system can be directly determined with only a first-order layout and predetermined materials. Based on the above derivation, a zoom system design method is proposed, which utilizes the lens model surfaces and aspheric surfaces with zero optical power to formulate a merit function and optimize the initial structure to meet first-order, third-order, and fifth-order performance simultaneously. This method was validated through the implementation of both refractive and reflective lenses.