Spectacle lens having a plurality of diffraction structures for light

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10025115-B2
Application number	US-201615359476-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 22, 2016
Priority date	May 22, 2014
Publication date	Jul 17, 2018
Grant date	Jul 17, 2018

Abstract

The invention is directed to a spectacle lens and includes a body which is transparent or at least partly transparent to light and has a phase object which guides the light incident at an angle of incidence α on a side facing away from an observer into a direction depending on the wavelength λ of the light and the angle of incidence α thereof. The phase object has a multiplicity of diffraction structures, which diffract monochromatic light at a wavelength of 380 nm≤λ≤800 nm with a diffraction efficiency of η≥70% into one and same order of diffraction |m|≥1 when the monochromatic light is incident at an angle of incidence α on the side of the lens facing away from the observer which lies within a diffraction-structure-specific angle interval 15° wide and dependent on the wavelength of the light.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A spectacle lens for an observer, the spectacle lens having a front side facing away from the observer and comprising:
a body transparent or at least partly transparent to light;

said body having a phase object configured to guide light incident on the front side of said spectacle lens at an incident angle α to a surface normal {right arrow over (n)} of the front surface of the spectacle lens in a direction dependent upon the wavelength λ of said light and upon said incident angle α;
said phase object having a light-deflecting effect dependent on the viewing direction;
said phase object having a multiplicity of diffraction structures configured to diffract monochromatic light having a wavelength lying in a range of 380 nm≤λ≤800 nm at a diffraction efficiency of η≥70% into one and same order of diffraction |m|≥1 when the monochromatic light is incident at the incident angle α, in relation to a surface normal {right arrow over (n)} of said front surface at the location passed by the viewing direction, on said front surface of the spectacle lens which lies within a diffraction-structure-specific angle interval which is 15° wide and depends on the wavelength of the light;
each diffraction structure forming an actuator-compensator pair with a further diffraction structure which is spatially separate from the diffraction structure, wherein the deflections of the light incident on the front surface caused by the diffraction structures forming an actuator-compensator pair are at least partly canceled;
each diffraction structure being configured to only diffract the light whose wavelength λ lies in a specific wavelength range Δ 0 ±Δλ and which is incident on the diffraction structure, in relation to an object-side boundary of the diffraction structure, at an angle of incidence α′ lying in a specific diffraction-structure-specific angle of incidence range α 0 ±Δα,
wherein the light which originates from each surface segment of a predetermined object surface is diffracted by one actuator-compensator pair or by a plurality of actuator-compensator pairs in such a way that a sharp image of the relevant surface segment of the object surface may arise on the retina of an eye of the observer; and,
wherein the body of the spectacle lens has an edge and two or more connected visual zones which have a different optical effect which is set by the diffraction structures, extend over the body and at least partly cover the body in the process; and,
wherein the body has no regions with an astigmatism caused by the Minkwitz theorem.

2. The spectacle lens of claim 1 , wherein each diffraction structure diffracts all light of a diffraction-structure-specific wavelength λ lying in a diffraction-structure-specific wavelength interval λ 0 ±0.1 μm; and,
said wavelength is incident at an angle of incidence α which lies in a diffraction-structure-specific angle of incidence range α 0 ±2.5° on said front side, with the diffraction efficiency of η≥70% into one and same order of diffraction |m|≥1.

3. The spectacle lens of claim 1 , wherein the diffraction structures in the parameter plane spanned by the angle of incidence α and the wavelength λ with a wavelength parameter axis and an angle of incidence parameter axis each have an efficiency window extending along a straight line, which increases monotonically in relation to the wavelength λ, in which efficiency window the light incident at a specific angle of incidence α on the front side is diffracted with the diffraction efficiency of η≥70% into one and same order of diffraction |m|≥1 when the parameter pair [α, λ] of the wavelength λ and the angle of incidence α of the light, corresponding to a point in the parameter plane, lies in the efficiency window.

4. The spectacle lens of claim 3 , wherein: δ≤0.036°/nm applies to the gradient δ of the straight line or δ≤0.024°/nm applies to the gradient δ of the straight line or δ≤0.012°/nm applies to the gradient δ of the straight line.

5. The spectacle lens of claim 1 , wherein the diffraction structures in the parameter plane spanned by the angle of incidence α and the wavelength λ with a wavelength parameter axis and an angle of incidence parameter axis each have an efficiency window extending along a straight line, which increases monotonically in relation to the wavelength λ, between a first tangent parallel to the increasing straight line and a second tangent displaced in parallel to the first tangent in the direction of the angle of incidence parameter axis by the angle Δα≤20°, in which efficiency window the light incident at a specific angle of incidence α on said front side is diffracted with the diffraction efficiency of η≥70% into one and same order of diffraction |m|≥1 when the parameter pair (α, λ) of the wavelength λ and the angle of incidence α of the light, corresponding to a point in the parameter plane, lies in the efficiency window, or
wherein the diffraction structures in the parameter plane spanned by the angle of incidence α and the wavelength λ with a wavelength parameter axis and an angle of incidence parameter axis each have an efficiency window extending along a straight line, which increases monotonically in relation to the wavelength λ, between a first tangent parallel to the increasing straight line and a second tangent displaced in parallel to the first tangent in the direction of the angle of incidence parameter axis by the angle Δα≤15°, in which efficiency window the light incident at a specific angle of incidence α on the side of the spectacle lens distant from the observer is diffracted with the diffraction efficiency of η≥70% into one and same order of diffraction |m|≥1 when the parameter pair (α, λ) of the wavelength λ and the angle of incidence α of the light, corresponding to a point in the parameter plane, lies in the efficiency window, or
wherein the diffraction structures in the parameter plane spanned by the angle of incidence α and the wavelength λ with a wavelength parameter axis and an angle of incidence parameter axis each have an efficiency window extending along a straight line, which increases monotonically in relation to the wavelength λ, between a first tangent parallel to the increasing straight line and a second tangent displaced in parallel to the first tangent in the direction of the angle of incidence parameter axis by the angle Δα≤10° or Δα≤6°, in which efficiency window the light incident at a specific angle of incidence α on said front side is diffracted with the diffraction efficiency of η≥70% into one and same order of diffraction |m|≥1 when the parameter pair (α, λ) of the wavelength λ and the angle of incidence α of the light, corresponding to a point in the parameter plane, lies in the efficiency window.

6. The spectacle lens of claim 3 , wherein the efficiency window extends symmetrically along the straight line and/or the straight line, along which the efficiency window extends, approximately follows a line passing through the efficiency window on which the diffraction efficiency η is at a maximum.

7. The spectacle lens of claim 1 , wherein each diffraction structure is embodied as a modulation of the complex refractive index n(λ; x,y,z):=n r (λ; x,y,z)+in i (λ; x,y,z) of the body in at least one spatial direction; and, wherein the amplitude Δn(λ) of the modulation of the complex refractive index n(λ; x,y,z) satisfies the following relationship for light of the wavelength 400 nm≤λ≤800 nm: 0.01≤|Δn(λ)|≤0.05.

8. The spectacle lens of claim 1 , wherein the phase object has a lens effect.

9. The spectacle lens of claim 1 , wherein the phase object comprises layers, lying one above the other, of an optically transparent material with a modulated refractive index, wherein the layers lying one abov

Assignees

• Carl Zeiss Int Gmbh
• Zeiss Carl Ag
• Zeiss Carl Jena Gmbh
• Zeiss Carl Vision Int Gmbh

Inventors

• Sessner Rainer
• Petschulat Joerg
• Rifai Katharina
• Klopfleisch Peter
• Burkhardt Matthias
• Pacher Peter
• Kratzer Timo
• Krug Herbert

Classifications

• G02C7/028

  Special mathematical design techniques · CPC title

• G02C2202/22

  Correction of higher order and chromatic aberrations, wave front measurement and calculation · CPC title

• G02C7/063 Primary

  Shape of the progressive surface · CPC title

• G02B27/4266

  Diffraction theory; Mathematical models · CPC title

• G02B5/32

  Holograms used as optical elements · CPC title