Optical System Engineering

Brandywine Photonics Onsite Lab

System engineering with diamond turned optics, broadband performance and athermal properties are our specialty. These include complex surfaces such as higher-order aspherics, diamond turned gratings and toroids. We design and produce Three Mirror Anastigmats (TMA) as well as conventional Dall-Kirkam, Ritchey-Chrétien and Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes. We work closely with the CMOS and Detector designer to obtain the optimal solutions or the customer requirements within cost and schedule constraints. We design each diffraction grating using advanced electromagnetic modeling of the groove shape and density. Every system comes with a predicted Noise Equivalent Spectral Radiance analysis for optimizing sensitivity vs. size, weight, and power.

For Longwave Infrared instruments, we do extensive thermal background analysis, cryo-mechanical design, and opto-mechanical-thermal design.

Our experience includes building lab, airborne, and space instruments to the required flight certifications and environmental testing.