How do I set up a cylindrical lens in OSLO? If I want the orientation of the cylinder of the lens to be oriented in the orthogonal direction, how do I do that?

Synopsis

Setting up a cylindrical lens in OSLO

Solution

For purposes of discussion, we will assume that you want to make surface 3 have a cylindrical surface:

1. Start by creating a regular lens system with has a spherical surface curvature on surface 3.
2. Click on the grey box in the "SPECIAL" column of surface 3 and choose "Polynomial Asphere (A) >> Conic/Toric" from the resulting pop-up menu.
3. In the resulting dialog box, choose "Surface Type:" = "Cylinder"

This will result in a cylindrical surface where the orientation of the cylindrical axis is aligned with the X-axis of your system. To rotate the cylindrical surface 90 degrees so that the cylindrical axis is aligned with the Y-axis of your system, you will need to rotate the coordinate system of this one surface by 90 degrees around the Z-axis:

1. Click on the grey box in the "SPECIAL" column of surface 3 and choose "Coordinates (C)" from the resulting pop-up menu.
2. In the resulting dialog box, set "TLC" = "90". This will rotate the surface 90 degrees bout the Z-axis
3. In the same dialog box, set "Coordinate r = yes". This will set the coordinate system of the lens back to the original orientation before the next surface is defined.