We discuss oblique spherical aberration, its balance, and its control. Several ways to mitigate this aberration are listed and some lens design examples are presented. The variation of oblique spherical aberration as a function of index of refraction and the shape factor of a thin lens is also presented. It is argued that controlling the amount and distribution of spherical aberration propagating in a lens system can be an important mechanism for mitigating oblique spherical aberration. The control of oblique spherical aberration is illustrated with a double Gauss lens, with lenses for microlithography, and with a lens for mobile phones.

Computer-based simulation tools can be an effective component in the teaching of aberrations, interferometry, and optical testing, as part of an educational strategy that includes classroom fundamentals and hands-on laboratory practice. At the University of Rochester, a MATLAB-based simulation graphical user interface (GUI) has been incorporated into both the undergraduate and graduate curricula. Users specify aberrations using either primary Seidel aberration coefficients or Zernike coefficients and the simulation GUI produces a broad array of displays including wavefront and transverse ray aberration representations, imaging-system performance metrics, interferometry simulation, including lateral shearing interferometry, Shack–Hartmann sensing simulations, and Foucault knife-edge and wire tests. We describe the simulation GUI and discuss how aspects of it are used to enhance classroom instruction at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

This article introduces a streamlined method for ray-tracing Gaussian laser beams in optical systems, drawing from traditional matrix optics and J. A. Arnaud’s complex rays. It provides an intuitive tool for optical engineers, accommodating arbitrary initial beam curvatures and spot radii for versatile system analyses. Examples, including beam focusing, mode matching, and zoom lens systems, demonstrate its applicability. We present a user-friendly Microsoft Excel tool for simulations and optimization, along with a Python-coded 3D beam propagation model. This method enhances understanding and equips professionals with practical tools for various optical configurations. This work also explores the application to 3D virtual reality.

The U.S. Air and Space Forces require optical expertise among their personnel. The Air Force Institute of Technology offers a graduate optics curriculum, which includes a three-course sequence to educate students in the optical concepts of radiometry and radiometric instrumentation. We find radiometry is often a deceptively difficult concept for students to master. To address this, we have developed an experiment in our optics-laboratory coursework to help them gain this mastery. A Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer (FTS) is used to collect spectral data from an unknown sample. FTS calibration and data collection are discussed here, as are the two specific samples used, one with specular reflectance properties, the other with diffuse. The analysis methodology used on the data is also discussed. This is a good radiometry exercise to reveal to the student what can be learned about an unknown material’s optical properties in a remote-sensing scenario and is the basis upon which the limiting simplifications of this initial experiment may be generalized to address more difficult, but more realistic, remote-sensing analyses.

The Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester (UofR) launched a program in the fall of 2020 for students interested in earning an MS in optics. The program is referred to as the hybrid optics master’s education (HOME). The HOME system of coursework allows working individuals to take classes remotely either synchronously with in-person MS students through Zoom or asynchronously guided by the professor. Courses are structured to be inclusive to the online learner through group projects and discussion with other in-person/online students and one-on-one interaction with the professor and teaching assistant. Each course has specific learning objectives and may incorporate a variety of technology platforms to engage the online student and create an active learning environment. The degree requirements for the MS HOME and in-person Optics MS are identical; only the form of curriculum delivery is modified. Optics faculty were enrolled in a specific course through the UofR’s Warner School of Education to develop their online curriculum. In the three short years since the program’s inception, we have gathered data on what makes a successful online master’s student in optics and how to keep the online student engaged in the classroom and connected to their professors as well as other students in the program.

Public educational outreach is critical for introducing students to the field of optics. Video-sharing platforms, including YouTube and TikTok, are powerful tools for introducing optics to young students, especially as video consumption rates continue to rise. The proliferation of short, casual videos shot vertically on a cell phone on these applications and other social media platforms has greatly reduced the barriers to entry for educating through video. This work will cover the strategies and tactics used by Edmund Optics in recent years to establish and rapidly scale up a video-based outreach program that now reaches up to 13 million views per month. While this scale may at first seem unattainable, short-form video on social media provides a low-cost, low-time-requirement method for achieving this level of reach. In addition to practical guidance for educational video creation, the benefits of such an effort to the company or institution who sponsors it and tips to get buy-in from organizational leadership will be shared. A digital video-based optics outreach program can serve as the foundation for a larger outreach effort that develops the future photonics workforce.

There is a shortage of trained optical engineers in our industry, particularly a shortfall of optical design engineers. One way to create more optical designers is through a cultivation strategy. This work discusses the current optical design education process and describes a possible strategy to cultivate engineers into real working optical design engineers based on the mentorship program used by Hughes Aircraft Company in the 1980s. The process used by Hughes Aircraft Company is discussed and a possible structure for implementing something similar is based on today’s toolset and requirements. The design process is broken into 12 blocks, each of which consists of four one hour classes with four hours of homework for each. Using a layered approach, the homework can accommodate students with diverse backgrounds and skills and can be taught using any of the existing optical design codes. The document includes a detailed structure of 48 lessons for a possible mentoring program, which can be customized as necessary for specific groups of students or companies. The mentoring program has been refined over the past five years, with more than 30 participants to date in seven countries and a dozen companies with great success.

Optics and photonics have become integral components of undergraduate and postgraduate curricula due to their extensive applications in physics, biology, and engineering, particularly in fields such as sensing and communication. Diffraction and interference phenomena are building blocks for understanding principles of optics and photonics based technologies. As a result, these concepts are taught to students at various educational levels in colleges and universities. However, many students currently face challenges in grasping the fundamental principles of light diffraction and interference. To address this issue, there is a need for an experimental setup that can effectively and visually explain these principles to students. We present a single-beam experimental setup. This setup is well suited for conducting a range of experiments related to the diffraction and interference of light. Through the utilization of this setup, we are able to showcase the experiments involving diffraction patterns produced by circular apertures, knife-edge diffraction, single slit, wire diffraction, as well as intriguing phenomena, such as the Poisson spot and spatial frequency filtering.