Study of the accuracy of the design method based on aberration theory for collimating lenses

The method was proposed choosing the initial construction and for the design of collimation and side-emitting lenses which includes the lens profile generating on the base of the conic curves using simple theoretical expressions from the third-order aberration theory. Compared to the other methods, this one gives the possibility to evaluate the necessary size and basic parameters of conic curves without any time-consuming procedures. In the paper, the accuracy of the solutions obtained on the basis of aberration theory has been analyzed from the viewpoint of lens efficiency and the forming surfaces’ shape both for different lens types and extended LED sources. The goal of the work was in researching how close to the more exact configuration the proposed solution was obtained using optimization technique. For different cases of lens size and lens dimensions, we have demonstrated that the deviation of the lens profile is comparable to the surface manufacturing accuracy. Thus, the method using aberration theory provides a basis for the fast automatic and visual tool for designing illumination lenses.