Design of image-side telecentric freeform imaging systems based on a point-by-point construction-iteration process

In this Letter, we present a novel design method of image-side telecentric freeform imaging systems. The freeform surfaces in the system can be generated using a point-by-point design approach starting from an initial system consisting of simple planes. The proposed method considers both the desired object-image relationships and the telecentricity at the image-side during the design process. The system generated by this method can be taken as a good starting point for further optimization. To demonstrate the benefit and feasibility of our method, we design two freeform off-axis three-mirror image-side telecentric imaging systems in the visible band. The systems operate at F/1.9 with a 30 mm entrance pupil diameter and 5° diagonal field-of-view. The modulation-transfer-function curves are above 0.69 at 100 lps/mm.