Internal and external stray radiation suppression for LWIR catadioptric telescope using non-sequential ray tracing

A long wave infrared imaging system operated for space exploration of faint target is highly sensitive to stray radiation. We present an integrative suppression process of internal and external stray radiation. A compact and re-imaging LWIR catadioptric telescope is designed as practical example and internal and external stray radiation is analyzed for this telescope. The detector is cryogenically cooled with 100% cold shield efficiency of Lyot stop. A non-sequential ray tracing technique is applied to investigate how the stray radiation propagates inside optical system. The simulation and optimization during initial design stage are proceeded to avoid subversive defect that the stray radiation disturbs the target single. The quantitative analysis of stray radiation irradiance emitted by lenses and structures inside is presented in detail. The optical elements, which operate at room-temperature due to the limitation of weight and size, turn to be the significant stray radiation sources. We propose a method combined infrared material selection and optical form optimization to reduce the internal stray radiation of lens. We design and optimize mechanical structures to achieve a further attenuation of internal stray radiation power. The point source transmittance (PST) is calculated to assess the external radiation which comes from the source out of view field. The ghost of bright target due to residual reflection of optical coatings is simulated. The results show that the performance of stray radiation suppression is dramatically improved by iterative optimization and modification of optomechanical configurations.