COMPACT IMAGING OPTICS USING SPATIALLY LOCATED, FREE FORM OPTICAL COMPONENTS FOR DISTORTION COMPENSATION AND IMAGE CLARITY ENHANCEMENT

An optical assembly to enable distortion compensation and enhanced image clarity is provided. The optical assembly may include an optical stack, such as pancake optics. The optical assembly may also include at least two optical elements. The optical assembly may further include at least one spatially located, free form optical component between the at least two optical elements, wherein the spatially located, free form optical component provides distortion compensation and enhanced image clarity. In some examples, the spatially located, free form optical component may have a plurality of regions having different diffraction designs. In some examples, , the spatially located, free form optical component may also utilize a curvature (i.e., may have a curved surface) to implement a phase change profile that may provide distortion compensation.