Optical Design and Fabrication of an Infrared Conformal Window

The growing need to incorporate Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) optical systems in high speed aircraft has brought with it the aerodynamic requirement for zero power windows which are conformal with the sensor mounting pod. Such asymmetric, dome-like optical elements must have the same diffraction limited performance capabilities as their predecessor symmetric dome counterparts if the performance of the FLIR used with them is not to be compromised. When of large diameter and used considerably off-axis, the optical design and opto-mechanical considerations become significant and challenging for both the optical designer and the component fabricator.