Table 1. Relationship between step number N and first-order diffraction efficiency
Visible
Infrared
Ultraviolet
Diffractive optical element
Mainly used in visual optical system[68-74]
Design of dual - band and heat dissipation optical system[75-83]
Mainly used in solar blind ultraviolet warning system[84-88],and are single-layer diffractive optical elements
Single-layer diffractive optical elements
In 1994,Cox et al. pioneered the introduction of single-layer diffractive optical elements into head-mounted display(HMD)optical systems,reducing the use of three lenses compared with refractive optical systems under the same design specifications[68]
In 1992,Wood introduced a single-layer diffractive optical element into the infrared optical system for the first time to complete the design of chromatic aberration in the band of 3-5 μm[77]
In 2018,Changchun University of Science and Technology completed the design of field of view and large relative aperture folded / diffractive hybrid UV warning system with a relative aperture of 1∶3 and a field of view of 60° in the working band of 240-280 nm[88]
Multistage/harmonic diffractive optical elements
Zhejiang University completed the design of micro-optical glasses using single-chip harmonic diffractive optical elements in 2008[71]
In 2003,the research team of Nankai University completed the design of heat dissipation optical system in the operating band of 3.7-4.3 μm and 8.7-11.7 μm,-70 -100 °C by introducing single layer harmonic diffraction optical element into the optical system,which is the first time in China[75]
Double-layer and multi-layer diffractive optical elements
In 2013,Zhejiang Normal University introduced a filled three-layer diffractive optical element(as shown below)into the HMD optical system to complete the design of the refractive / diffractive hybrid HMD optical system[72]
In 2014,Changchun Institute of Optics and Machinery introduced double-layer harmonic diffraction optical elements in 3-5 μm and 8-14 μm working bands,and used four lenses to complete the design of infrared dual-band optical system with only ZnS and ZnSe materials[81]
Table 2. Application of diffractive optical elements in optical systems of various bands