There are also cylindrical Fresnel lenses, where the curvature and the steps are only in one direction. Some devices are not even used for focusing (and may thus not be called lenses), but only for deflecting beams or images.

Different fabrication techniques can be used for Fresnel lenses. Frequently, one makes them in the form of plastic lenses, using molding or embossing processes. Glass Fresnel lenses can be fabricated with computer-controlled milling. Usually, Fresnel lenses are made as a single piece of material.

In the area of diffractive optics, one sometimes uses similar looking designs of microlenses, where the steps are dimensioned such that they correspond to optical phase changes which are integer multiples of <$2 \pi$>. For Fresnel lenses, however, this principle is usually not used; they are purely refractive devices, not utilizing diffraction. It would actually be difficult to implement it for large lenses with the required precision. The contributions of different radial statements to an image are therefore generally considered as mutually incoherent, and the limitation of resolution by diffraction is related to the segment size rather than to the whole diameter of the lens, but diffraction-limited performances anyway often not reached. One may at least adjust the slopes of the steps such that the resulting disturbances for the light field are minimized.

Fresnel lenses are lenses composed of a series of concentric rings. The Fresnel lens construction design allows for large aperture and short focal length with less mass and volume compared with a conventional lens design.

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Good and evil: Star Wars. Black and white: The Defiant Ones. Men and women: When Harry Met Sally. These films are based on polarity, with characters so diametrically different that conflict is inevitable.

Shanghai Noon (2000)  In this action-comedy, an unlikely duo – Chinese Imperial Guardsman and bumbling Wild West train robber – work together to rescue a princess and take on a Chinese slave traitor. Again, the characters are what make the story work. Roy O’Bannon (Owen Wilson) and Chon Wang (Jackie Chan) are on polar ends of the character spectrum. Roy is a failed American outlaw on the Western frontier, who can’t fight, can’t shoot, can talk his way out of a jam, and originally joins the quest only because he’s in it for the money. Wang, in contrast, is a skilled member of the Chinese Imperial Guard, with expert fists of fury, a man of few possessions and even fewer words, who will stop at nothing until he completes his royal mission of honor, which to him is worth more than all the gold pieces in the China.

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The Odd Couple (1968)  Felix Ungar (Jack Lemmon) and Oscar Madison (Walter Matthau) are two divorced friends sharing an apartment, but their lifestyles and ideas of housekeeping mix like oil and water. Felix is a weak, paranoid, little man, fueled with anxiety. He’s a neat freak, a master in the kitchen, incredibly organized, but a nervous wreck. His counterpart, Oscar, is a confident, but irresponsible slob, whose idea of housecleaning is sour milk, moldy sandwiches and spaghetti on the wall. The opening poker scene alone is enough to make you fall off the chair laughing. In this film, the conflict comes out through humor and arguments alike.

There are also imaging applications, for example lightweight hand-held magnifier lenses and even photography with compact cameras.

In general, one will use aspheric shapes (→ aspheric lenses); given that the surface shape can anyway not be spherical, there would be no reason for choosing spherical shapes for the annular sections, if another shape gives better optical performance. For lenses with small steps, it may be sufficient to use conic shapes because this makes only a small difference, at least for non-imaging applications.

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A first approach for designing such a lens may be simply to translate different annular sections of the surface in a parallel fashion, preserving their orientation. However, that approach would not lead to the same optical properties as the original thick lens. For better performance, the curvature of the outside parts should be adapted.

In screenwriting, polarity is bliss. Why? Because polarity is mutual opposition, and when opposite elements are forced to interact, sparks fly. Conflict! It's the elixir of the script, the adhesive that keeps us there. If there's no conflict, there's no audience; therefore, conflict is the moviegoer's aphrodisiac.

Sometimes the polarity is a cut and dry opposition between protagonist and antagonist: Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader. But often it occurs within an unlikely team. A classic example is The Defiant Ones (1958): Two escaped convicts chained together, one white (Tony Curtis) and the other black (Sidney Poitier), must overcome their prejudices and work together to elude capture.

Fresnel lenses are a special kind of optical lenses, where the surface profile contains annular steps such that a given focal length can be achieved with a substantially reduced thickness of the lens. This reduction of thickness can be very useful when realizing lenses with very large diameters and substantial dioptric powers. The original application of the inventor, Augustin-Jean Fresnel, was for lighthouses, where the light generated by a high-power lamp had to be redirected with a reasonably compact optical setup. This operation principle is illustrated in Figure 1, showing two versions of lenses with the same focal length. The upper version has more annular steps and can therefore be made thinner.

Lethal Weapon (1987)  Sgt. Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) is a veteran cop who is assigned to work with Sgt. Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson), a young homicidal cop, to stop a gang of drug smugglers. Do they have anything in common? Only the fact that they are both lethal weapons. Riggs is white, around 30, a widower and single, self-destructive, suicidal, careless, yet charismatic with a good sense of humor. Murtaugh, on the other hand, is black, turning 50, happily married with kids, responsible, pragmatic, but a bit stiff and up-tight. Without even writing one word in the script, just by creating characters that are opposites in almost every way, the conflict arrives on it’s own. The writer doesn’t have to look for it.

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Fresnel lenses are mostly used in the area of illumination, where non-ideal optical performance can be easily tolerated. For example, for the original application in lighthouses it was no problem that some of the light was not ideally directed. Fresnel lenses are widely used as condensers in overhead projectors, where the small thickness is of essential importance, but there is a number of other application areas such as projection TVs, traffic lights and concentrating solar power.

Compared with an ordinary lens with a smooth surface shape, a Fresnel lens usually has substantially inferior optical properties; the steps cause some loss of light and scattering in unwanted directions. For the typical applications, however, such imperfections can be tolerated, while the advantage of a much reduced thickness and accordingly reduced weight can be beneficial or even essential.

Shanghai Optics offers Fresnel lenses Fresnel lenses made of plastics for various applications – including custom versions tailored to your needs.

We need polarity in screenwriting, not only because it creates great conflict, but it also allows for the opportunity for a character to learn and even change his or her position on race, sex, or ideology. Change is strength, and if we watch a character start seeing the world differently – with an open mind – then there's hope for the audience as well.

Knight Optical's Fresnel lenses are one of our most popular products. Our stock catalogue consists of standard Fresnel lenses with focal lengths from 3 mm to 650 nm, reverse configuration Fresnel lenses which are ideal for solar concentration applications, cylindrical Fresnel, and lenticular Fresnel lenses. Custom Fresnel lenses are also available with dimensions to 1000 mm or more.