Super wide field-of-regard conformal optical imaging system using liquid crystal spatial light modulator

The dynamic aberrations of a super wide field-of-regard (FOR) conformal optical system can be dramatically corrected using a liquid crystal spatial light modulator (LC-SLM). A LC-SLM can be used to improve the imaging performance and keep the configuration of the whole system simple and light weighting. A ±60° FOR optical imaging system with an ellipsoid MgF2 conformal dome based on LC-SLM correction is designed as an example. The system's ultimate value of modulation transfer function is near diffraction limit, which indicates that the performances of the super wide field-of-regard conic conformal optical system with a LC-SLM corrector match the infrared focal plane arrays.