LAUSR

Abstract The polarization aberrations of a complex optical system with multi-element lens have been investigated using a 3D polarization aberration function. The 3D polarization ray-tracing matrix has been combined with the optical path difference to obtain a 3D polarization aberration function, which avoids the need for a complicated phase unwrapping process. The polarization aberrations of a microscope objective have been analyzed to include, the distributions of 3D polarization aberration functions, diattenuation aberration, retardance aberration, and polarization-dependent intensity on the exit pupil. Further, the aberrations created by the field of view and the coating on the distribution rules of 3D polarization aberration functions are discussed in detail. Finally a novel appropriate field of view and wavelength correction is proposed for a polarization aberration function which optimizes the image quality of a multi-element optical system.