Unit 10

SUBJECT

MONOCHROMATIC ABERRATIONS

The sections of the Core Competency that you will be

CORE
COMPETENCIES working towards in this unit are:
Foundation knowledge for:
4. Optical Appliances
The ability to dispense an appropriate optical appliance

WORK SET

Optics

A.H.Tunnacliffe&J.G.Hirst
Sections 7.3 to 7.3.5 inclusive

LEARNING
OUTCOMES

After studying this weeks work you will be expected to:

Show what is meant by first order or paraxial

theory and third order or Seidel theory

Illustrate with the aid of diagrams the five

monochromatic aberrations

Demonstrate using diagrams how spherical

aberration affects image quality and how the
aberration may be controlled or eliminated.

113

Unit 10

INTRODUCTION
Aberrations are faults in an image formed by an optical system. There are two types
of aberration:

Chromatic aberration.
Monochromatic aberrations.

Chromatic aberration occurs because the refractive index of a material varies with
the wavelength of the incident light. This will be discussed in Unit 21.
Monochromatic aberrations are faults in an image due to imperfect focusing of light
rays by an optical system. The familiar paraxial equations for single surfaces, curved
mirrors and thin lenses, were developed assuming that all image forming light rays
meet the surface close to the optical axis and therefore make only small angles of
incidence.
If the incident angles are assumed small (i.e. less than 2), we can write
i radians sin i tan i
Snell's Law for refraction of light rays is
Assuming small angles this reduces to

n sini= n' sini'

n i n' i'

or

n tani n' tani'

The theory developed from this approximation is known as first ordertheory or

paraxial theory. The only aberration which can be studied by means of paraxial
theory is chromatic aberration. Apart from chromatic aberration, first order theory
predicts the formation of perfect images by an optical system. However, the light rays
which form an image are rarely all paraxial and hence the images suffer from
aberrations.
Third order theory or Seidel theory represents a more accurate way of predicting
image formation. The Maclaurin expansion of the sine function is:
i3 i5 i 7
sin i i .........
3! 5! 7!

(In this equation the ! sign is read factorial.

5! means 5 4 3 2 1.)

This series for sin iis infinite.

First order theory makes use of just the first term in this expansion,
i.e. we replace sini by i (in radians)

114

Monochromatic Aberrations

Third order theory utilises the first two terms, i.e. sin i i i
3!
When this better approximation is used, equations can be developed which contain
terms that explain five observable aberrations.
These aberrations are:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)

Spherical aberration.
Coma.
Oblique astigmatism.
Petzval field curvature.
Distortion.

10.1 WAVEFRONT ABERRATIONS AND RAY ABERRATIONS

Aberrations can be illustrated in one of two ways, either as an aberration in the
direction of the ray (Fig.10.1) or as an aberration in the wavefront (Fig.10.2).
Fig.10.1
Ray aberrations

Fig.10.1 shows rays that "miss" the image point. The distances marked show the
amount of aberration; LA is the longitudinal aberration and TA is the transverse
aberration which is measured in the plane of the image.

115

Unit 10

Fig.10.2
Wavefront aberration

Fig.10.2 shows the wavefront aberration associated with the ray aberration in
Fig.10.1. The reference wave is spherical with its centre on the image point. The
wavefront aberration is the difference between the reference wave and the actual
wave. Clearly, the size of the aberration depends upon the distance of the wavefront
from the optical axis.
It is often more convenient to work out equations for the wavefront aberrations.
Wavefront aberrations due to successive refracting or reflecting surfaces can be added
together to calculate the total aberrations due to a whole system. Ray aberrations can
then be evaluated from the wavefront aberrations.
The mathematics behind third order theory is quite lengthy and beyond the scope of
this course. We shall therefore confine our attention to aberrations in the ray path
since it is easier to determine how ray aberrations will affect an image.
10.2 SPHERICAL ABERRATION
Fig.10.3

116

Monochromatic Aberrations

Fig.10.3 shows spherical aberration due to a positive lens with spherical surfaces.
The margins of the lens are too strong because the rays make a larger angle of
incidence and are therefore more deviated, hence the marginal rays cross the optical
axis in front of the paraxial focal point, F'p. The marginal focal point is the point on
the optical axis where the most marginal ray crosses and is marked F'm.
Spherical aberration can be minimised by:
1.
2.

Limiting the aperture of the lens so that only paraxial rays are refracted.
Adjusting the form of the lens.

The former approach is simple. Spectacle lenses are never corrected for spherical
aberration since the pupil of the eye forms a limiting aperture. Lenses for cameras
telescopes and microscopes must be corrected for spherical aberration and this is done
by choosing lenses with the correct shape factor.
r2 r1
r2 r1
wherer1 and r2 are the radii of curvature of the lens surfaces.

The Coddington shape factor* of a lens is given by

* Note that in ophthalmic optics we do not use the term shape factor to mean the
Coddington shape factor. Instead, the term shape factor means the magnification due
to the form and thickness of a lens. However, for the purposes of this unit we will
take the term shape factor to mean the quantity defined above.
Fig.10.4
Shape factor []

Fig.10.4 shows some positive lenses with their shape factors. All the lenses shown
have the same power. Shape factors for negative lenses are found in the same way.
Spherical aberration for a lens with spherical surfaces can never be zero for a distant
object, and the degree of aberration depends upon the shape factor and the position of

117

Unit 10

an object in front of the lens. It is quite simple to estimate roughly the shape of a lens
for minimum spherical aberration.
Recall that deviation of a light ray by a prism is minimum if the refracting surfaces
share the refraction equally, shown in Fig.10.5.
Fig.10.5

i2

i1 = i2

In order to minimise spherical aberration we must minimise the deviation of light rays
at the margins of the lens. This is achieved by ensuring that as far as possible
refraction of light rays is shared equally by each lens surface. Examples of optimum
lens forms are shown for positive lenses in Figs.10.6 and 10.7.
Fig.10.6 Object at 2f.
Minimum spherical aberration is achieved when the lens has shape factor = 0,
i.e. when the lens is equi-convex

2f

2f

118

Monochromatic Aberrations

Fig.10.7 Object at .
Minimum spherical aberration is achieved when lens has shape factor 0.7.
The lens is bi-convex, back surface almost plano

Fig.10.8 shows how spherical aberration varies with shape factor for infinitely distant
objects. Lenses in refracting telescopes and cameras are most often used with objects
at infinity and are therefore designed for minimum spherical aberration when the
incident light is parallel.
Fig.10.8

119

Unit 10

10.3 APLANATIC POINTS

It was stated previously that it is not possible to achieve zero spherical aberration for
spherical surfaces for a distant object. However, all spherical refracting surfaces
possess three pairs of conjugate points for which spherical aberration (and coma) are
always zero. These three pairs of points are known as the aplanaticpoints for the
surface.
The first of these pairs of points coincide at the vertex of the surface. If an object
were made to coincide with the vertex, then the image would also lie at the vertex.
In this case, = = 0.
The second pair of aplanatic points coincide at the centre of curvature of the surface.
All incident rays which are aimed at the centre of curvature meet the surface normally
i.e., i = i = 0. In this case, = = r.
The third pair of aplanatic points is illustrated in Fig.10.9. They occur when the angle
of incidence, i, equals the slope angle of the refracted ray, u. When this occurs, it can
be shown that the angle of refraction, i at the surface is equal to the slope angle, u of
the incident ray. In Fig.10.9, B and B are the third pair of aplanatic points for the
surface.
Fig.10.9

uu

Fig.10.9 shows a light ray of slope angle, u, incident at a single refracting surface and
aimed at the virtual object point, B which is the first aplanatic point. A real image is
formed at B'which is the second aplanatic point. It can be shown that these conjugate
points remain in the same position even when the angle of incidence becomes very

120

Monochromatic Aberrations

large. Since the image position does not change the image will be completely free
from spherical aberration.
n n r and n n r
The aplanatic points can be shown to lie at
n
n
Note that one of the points is always virtual so the scope for utilising this pair of
aplanatic points is limited.
One example of their use is the oil immersion microscope objective shown in
Fig.10.10.
Fig.10.10

A wide collecting angle is necessary to render small detail in the object visible. The
oil has the same refractive index as the first element in the lens system. P and P are
aplanatic points for the first element and P' and P'' are aplanatic points for the second
element. This system forms a high power microscope objective with no spherical
aberration.
10.4 DETERMINATION OF SPHERICAL ABERRATION
Ray aberrations are determined by trigonometric analysis of the ray path through a
lens, applying Snells law to the refraction at each surface. The following example
shows how the spherical aberration is calculated in the case of a plano-convex lens
with shape factor of 1.0, the plane surface facing a distant object.

121

Unit 10

Fig.10.11
D2
i

y2

u 2

i
C2N A2

Fig.10.11 illustrates a +5.00D lens made in glass of refractive index 1.60, incident
upon which is a ray of light from a distant object, which meets the lens at an intercept
height (y2) of 20mm. Because the incident ray is parallel to the optical axis, it meets
the anterior plane surface normally and so no refraction occurs at the front plane
surface.
The radius of curvature of the back surface is found, as usual, from
r2

1000 1 1.60
5.0

120mm

The back vertex focal length of the lens fV ( = A2F), is found from
1000 1000

200mm
FV
5.00

The spherical aberration of the ray incident 20mm from the optical axis is the distance
FB, which is given by A2B fV.
In order to determine the spherical aberration we must trace the ray through the lens
and determine the distance, A2B.
We begin by finding the angle of incidence, i.
In Fig.9.11 we note that angle i = angle D2C2A2, so we can write
y
y
sin i 2 2
D2C2 r2

122

Monochromatic Aberrations

Hence

sin i

20
0.16667 and angle i = 9.5941.
120

Now applying Snells law to the refraction at the back surface we have
n sin i = n sin iwhere n = 1.60 and n = 1.0
So sin i = 1.6 0.166667 = 0.266667 and angle i = 15.4660.
We note from the geometry of the figure that angle u2

and we can also see that tan u2

Hence,

NB

= i i
= 15.466 9.5941
= 5.8719

y2
NB

y2
tan u2
20
194.4687mm
tan 5.8719

From Fig.10.11 we note that A2B = NB NA2

where NA2 = the sag of the back surface at the diameter 2y2.
Using s = r(r2 y2), we have

NA2 = 120 (1202 202) = 1.6784

so A2B = 194.4687 1.6784 = +192.7903mm

The spherical aberration is found from A2B fV

= 7.2097mm.

The minus sign simply means that B lies to the left of F, which is the usual
undercorrected form of spherical aberration.
10.5 THE OBLIQUE ABERRATIONS
Whereas spherical aberration arises at a surface when light is incident parallel to the
optical axis, the remaining aberrations occur when light is incident obliquely upon a
surface. They are sometimes referred to as the oblique aberrations.
10.6 COMA
Coma is the second Seidel aberration. It can be thought of as off-axis spherical
aberration and is visible when image forming light rays are oblique.
Fig.10.12 shows how the different zones of the lens combine to form the comet
shaped image. The image is built up of a series of overlapping circles. You can

123

Unit 10

easily view the effect by focusing light with a +10.00D trial lens and slightly tilting
the lens.

124

Monochromatic Aberrations

Fig.10.12

Practically, coma can be reduced in three ways.

1.
2.
3.

Reducing the aperture of the lens so that only paraxial rays are refracted.
Adjusting the shape of the lens by bending.
Correct positioning of a stop in front of a lens.

The graph in Fig.10.8 shows how coma varies with the Coddington shape factor of a
lens when incident light rays come from a distant object. Notice that zero coma is
achieved when the shape factor of the lens is approximately 0.8, very close to the
value for minimum spherical aberration. The figures for spherical aberration and
coma should be taken as being relative values. The text points out that other
parameters would be required to give values in cm.
Fig.10.13 shows how the positioning of an aperture can affect the degree of coma.
The chief ray passes through the centre of the aperture stop.

125

Unit 10

Fig.10.13
a) With the stop in this position the rays are
refracted and intersect below the chief ray.
There is negative coma.

b) All these rays form a single image point.

There is no coma.

c) The rays are refracted and intersect above

the chief ray.
There is positive coma.

126

Monochromatic Aberrations

10.7 OBLIQUE ASTIGMATISM

Consider a narrow pencil of light incident obliquely upon a spherical surface with
centre of curvature, C, as shown in Fig.10.14a). The aperture stop behind the lens
controls which zone of the lens will play a part in the refraction at the surface. For the
pencil whose chief ray is incident at D, the path of the pencil after refraction is shown
in the Fig.10.14.
Fig.10.14
Oblique astigmatism

D
i = 10

C
T

Stop

b) Side view of refraction in Fig.a)

a) Narrow pencil of light incident

obliquely upon a spherical surface.
The refracted pencil is astigmatic
producing two line foci,T and S.

i = 0

c) Plan view of refraction in Fig.a)

Imagine that you are viewing this refraction from the side. The view of the refraction
of the chief ray of the narrow pencil is shown in Fig.10.14b). The angle of incidence
which the chief ray makes with the convex surface at the point of incidence, D, is seen
to be about 10. Naturally, the path of the ray after refraction is determined by Snells
law of refraction.
Now imagine that you are viewing the same refraction at point D from above as
shown in Fig.10.14c. In plan view, you cannot tell that the light is incident obliquely
at all. The angle of incidence which the chief ray makes with the convex surface in
this plane is apparently zero and the path of the ray in this plane can be expected to
differ from the path in Fig.10.14b).
Clearly, the effect of the surface is not the same in each plane. The refraction
illustrated in Fig.10.14b) is called the tangential refraction. The tangential refraction
takes place in the plane which contains the point of incidence and the optical axis of
the surface. The tangential plane is illustrated in Fig.10.15. The plane at right angles
to the tangential plane is known as the sagittal plane which is also illustrated in
Fig.10.15. The refraction in the sagittal plane is illustrated in Fig.10.14c).

127

Unit 10

Fig.10.14b) illustrates the tangential refraction of the narrow pencil incident at D.

The refracted pencil is afflicted with astigmatism and the form of the pencil is very
similar to astigmatic pencil obtained when light is refracted at an astigmatic lens. The
tangential refraction produces a line focus which lies in the sagittal plane.
Fig.10.14c) illustrates the sagittal refraction of the narrow pencil incident at D.
The sagittal line focus that is formed lies at right angles to the tangential line focus,
and in this instance would lie in the plane of the paper.
Fig.10.15
Location of the tangential and sagittal planes for various points of incidence.

T
S

.
T

S
T

Note that the tangential (T) plane

is located by dropping a line from
the point of incidence to the
optical axis.
The sagittal (S) plane always lies
at right angles to the tangential
plane.

Between the two line foci, the astigmatic pencil narrows until the minimum crosssection is obtained at which point the pencil forms a disk of least confusion.
The more oblique the rays, the greater the degree of astigmatism. Fig.10.16 shows the
tangential and sagittal image shells, which are the imaginary image surfaces upon
which all the tangential images (tangential shell) and all the sagittal images (sagittal
shell) would fall.
A three-dimensional image shell diagram is referred to as a teacup and saucer
diagram, for obvious reasons.

128

Monochromatic Aberrations

Fig.10.16
Image shell diagram

Oblique astigmatism for a lens or lens system can be minimised by:

1.

Correct choice of lens form.

2.

Appropriate positioning of an aperture.

3.

Using an aspherical surface.

The size of an aperture has no effect on the degree of astigmatism, hence spectacle
lenses must be corrected for oblique astigmatism. This is achieved by correct choice
of lens form and will be discussed further in the unit on best form lenses.
The position of an aperture does affect oblique astigmatism.

129

Unit 10

Fig.10.17
The position of an aperture affects the region of a lens that will refract oblique
light rays and will therefore affect the degree of oblique astigmatism (and coma).

For example, oblique astigmatism for a single refracting surface can be removed if an
aperture is placed at the centre of curvature of the surface. This would then ensure
that any chief ray (a chief ray is one which passes through the centre of an aperture)
was normal to the refracting surface. This is shown in Fig.10.18.
Fig.10.18
Aperture at centre of curvature of surface. All chief rays are normal to surface,
hence no oblique astigmatism.

130

Monochromatic Aberrations

Fig.10.19
A cheap solution to astigmatism for a camera, the landscape lens. The tangential
image shell (T) has moved back so that the circle of least confusion (LC) lies on a
plane. The film is placed in this plane. The astigmatism is not cured but
reduced. This lens will give rise to spherical aberration and coma unless its
aperture is restricted.

Oblique astigmatism is the most significant aberration in the case of spectacle lenses
and the main purpose of a best form lens is to eliminate or at least, minimise
aberrational astigmatism.
10.8 CURVATURE OF FIELD
If a surface did not exhibit oblique astigmatism, the two line images would collapse to
a point, which would fall on a single image shell known as the Petzval image surface.
It is easy to show that the image plane is curved, which can be predicted from a
simple analysis of the refraction of pencils at the curved surface.
Consider Fig.10.20 which illustrates a single refracting surface of radius, r, 100mm, at
the centre of curvature of which has been placed a stop. Suppose the surface to
separate air on the left from glass of refractive index 1.50 on the right.
The power of the surface F

1000 n n
r

131

500
5.00D
100

Unit 10

The second principal focal length is

1000n 1500

300mm
F
5.00

Fig.10.20
Curvature of field (Petzval Curvature)
E

A
E

air n = 1.0

n= 1.50
D

The chief ray of all narrow pencils of light aimed towards the centre of curvature of
the surface must pass through the centre of this stop and focus at 300mm to the right
of the surface, i.e., AF = DD = EE = +300mm.
It is easy to see that the foci, D, E, F, for all the narrow pencils must lie on an
imaginary curved surface whose centre is the centre of curvature of the refracting
surface and whose radius (in this example) is 200mm.
This imaginary surface is called the Petzval surface and its radius, for a single
refracting surface, rPTZ, is found from:
rPTZ r f

n n n
n

F
F
F

In the case of a thin lens made in glass of refractive index, n, in air, the contributions
for each surface can be summed to produce rPTZ = nf
We see that field curvature for a single thin lens can never be zero but in a lens
system, field curvature can be virtually eliminated by using a combination of positive
and negative lenses. Field curvature due to a negative lens is in the opposite direction
to that due to a positive lens, (see Fig.10.21).

132

Monochromatic Aberrations

Fig.10.21

Image curved
Image curved

Camera and projector lenses are often designed with negative lenses included as field
flatteners. The lens system shown below is known as a Petzval lens. The negative
lens at the back of the system is a field flattener.
Fig.10.22

Field flattener

In the case of spectacle lenses, a curved image surface is required since the retina of
the eye is curved. It will be seen that, in a best-form lens, field curvature is
insufficient to match the curvature of the retina.
10.9 DISTORTION
The final Seidel aberration is distortion. Even if all the other four monochromatic
aberrations are absent a lens or lens system may still suffer from distortion. There are
two types of distortion, pincushion distortion and barrel distortion. Distortion
occurs because the linear magnification of the image varies over the image field.

133

Unit 10

Fig.10.23

ObjectImage with barrel distortion

Image with pincushion distortion

Fig.10.23 shows the two principal types of distortion. Distortion arises because the
magnification at the edges of the image field is greater than the magnification at the
centre. The degree of distortion exhibited by a lens depends, largely, on the position
of the aperture stop in relation to the lens.
Fig.10.24a)
A simple relay system where a stop is placed in contact with a lens and,
assuming no curvature error, the lens forms a plane image of a plane object
placed in front of the lens.

Fig.10.24b)
The stop has been shifted towards the object causing the image forming
pencil from the top of the object to travel further before arriving at the lens.
The image distance is, therefore, shortened and the image itself is cramped.
The image is said to suffer from barrel distortion.

134

Monochromatic Aberrations

Fig.10.24c)
The stop is placed behind the lens, the effect of which is to shorten the
object distance, lengthening the image distance, and the image is now
stretched. It is said to suffer from pincushion distortion.

Distortion can be eliminated if the linear magnification is constant over the whole
image field. It sometimes occurs in lens systems from measures taken to control other
aberrations. Wide-angle camera lenses often suffer from noticeable distortion. In a
lens system, distortion can be controlled to some extent if the system is symmetrical
about an aperture, so that the distortion introduced by the first set of elements is offset
by the distortion introduced by the second set of elements as shown in Fig.10.25.
Fig.10.25

A lens system that is free of distortion is said to be orthoscopic. You noted in the first
year that a pinhole camera is orthoscopic because it has no lenses to produce
distortion in the image.
In the case of the spectacle lens, distortion is small in the case of low-powered lenses
and the brain generally adapts to distortion in the image.
It is only when there is a large change in prescription (such as following cataract
extraction in the few cases where the aphakia is corrected by spectacle lenses) that
distortion becomes a problem.

135

Unit 10

Assignment 10
1.

a)

What is meant by aplanatic points of a surfaceand where are they

located?

[25]

b)

Find the positions of all the aplanatic points for a positive powered
refracting surface of radius 12cm, which separates media of refractive
indices 1.33 and 1.52.
[70]
(Note: a diagram is needed for this question.)

2.

a)

Explain with the aid of ray diagrams, how longitudinal spherical

aberration is produced by:
i)
a positive lens.

[25]

ii)

[10]

a negative lens.

b)

How is the longitudinal spherical aberration related to the aperture of

the lens?
[10]

c)

State one way in which spherical aberration could be reduced.

d)

Why is spherical aberration not important in the design of spectacle

lenses?
[10]

3.

[10]

A spherical refracting surface of radius +6cm separates two media of refractive

indices 1.40 and 1.66. Incident light from the left is converging towards an
axial object point 13.1143cm to the right of the vertex of the surface. Calculate
the position of the image point and show that this is free from spherical
aberration.
[50]
(Note: a diagram is needed for this question.)
(HINT: The axial object and image points must be aplanatic points.)

136

Monochromatic Aberrations

4.

a)

Describe, with a diagram, the aberration oblique astigmatism with

reference to thin spectacle lenses.
(Note: a diagram is needed for this question.)
b)

c)

What is the astigmatic difference and how is it affected by the lens

aperture?

[15]

[10]

Explain what is meant by tangential meridian, sagittal meridian,

tangential image, sagittal image, disc of least confusion. [25]

d)

Describe the construction of an image shell diagram for a single positive

lens.
[25]
(Note: a diagram is needed for this question.)
e)

Use image shell diagrams to show how oblique astigmatism varies with
the form of a lens.
[25]
(Note: a diagram is needed for this question.)

5.

a)

Describe the aberration distortion. Show, with diagrams, how the

presence of a stop placed near to a lens influences the distortion
exhibited by the lens.
(Note: a diagram is needed for this question.)
b)

[60]

State the effects of distortion in high-powered plus and minus spectacle

lenses made with spherical surfaces.
[40]

137