Homogeneous optimization approach for reducing sensitivity of an optical lens system

During the production of a lens system, the assembling and manufacturing tolerances must be accurately controlled to ensure production efficiency. Thus, it is important to analyze and optimize the tolerance sensitivity of the lens system during the optical design phase to reduce optical performance degradation. We proposed an approach for appropriately controlling the tolerance sensitivity of a lens system. The proposed sensitivity optimization method can homogenize image performance for the same field under different tolerance values. Based on the results, we show that the implementation of the proposed method sharply reduces sensitivity and, consequently, improves the product yield rate by 15 to 17% compared with a traditional optimization method. As a practical example, a 40-megapixel f1.8 mobile phone camera lens design and optimization process was performed in our study. Our preliminary experimental results confirm that the proposed method is effective to reduce the optical sensitivity of the camera lens.