Eur. Phys. J.

D (2023)77:132
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/s10053-023-00715-4
THE EUROPEAN
PHYSICAL JOURNAL D
Regular Article – Optical Phenomena and Photonics

Quadrifocal diffractive lenses based on the aperiodic

silver mean sequence
Adrián Garmendı́a-Martı́nez1,a , Walter D. Furlan2 , Juan C. Castro-Palacio1, Juan A. Monsoriu1, and
Vicente Ferrando1
1
Centro de Tecnologı́as Fı́sicas, Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 Valencia, Spain
2
Departamento de Óptica y Optometrı́a y Ciencias de la Visión, Universitat de València, 46100 Valencia, Spain

Received 2 May 2023 / Accepted 23 June 2023

© The Author(s) 2023

Abstract. In this work, we present a new quadrifocal diffractive lens designed using the silver mean
sequence. The focusing properties of these aperiodic diffractive lenses coined silver mean zone plates are
analytically examined. It is demonstrated that, under monochromatic illumination, these lenses present
four foci located at certain reduced axial positions given by the Pell numbers that can be correlated with
the silver mean sequence. This distinctive optical characteristic is experimentally confirmed.

1 Introduction with an internal fractal structure, reproducing the self-

similarity of the originating FZP. Imaging properties of
A renewed interest in diffractive optical elements FZP were also investigated. Interestingly, under poly-
(DOEs) has been experienced by the scientific commu- chromatic illumination a FZP produces a substantial
nity in the last years because these elements are essen- increase in the depth of field and a noticeable reduction
tial as image forming setups that are used in THz appli- in the chromatic aberration compared with a Fresnel
cations [1,2], soft X-ray microscopy [3,4], astronomy zone plate of the same focal distance [15]. Additionally,
[5,6], lithography [7] and ophthalmology [8,9], among in order to design optimized optical systems, different
others. A Zone Plate (ZP) [10], the simplest form of a mechanisms to control the diffraction efficiency of frac-
diffractive lens, is characterized by a series of concen- tal lenses have been proposed in different publications.
tric transparent and opaque annular rings distributed We have shown that the diffraction efficiency of a FZP
periodically along the square of the radial coordinate, can be controlled by amplitude modulation, resulting
so the area of each annular zone is a constant. Under in new elements called fractal photon sieves [16] and
plane wave illumination, this distribution of zones pro- also by fractal kinoform zone plates known as Devi’ls
duced by diffraction a set of foci located along the opti- lenses [17]. These designs were the basis of new frac-
cal axis. To improve diffraction efficiency, binary phase tal intraocular lenses [18,19] and fractal contact lenses
ZPs [11] and kinoform lenses [12] (ZPs with a sawtooth [20,21].
profile) can be used. With the latter configuration, it In addition to fractal elements, there are numer-
can be achieved theoretically that all the energy concen- ous aperiodic sequences [22,23] with which diffractive
trates on a single focus for the design wavelength. Pho- lenses can be structured. Diffractive lenses based on the
ton Sieves [13] have been also implemented to improve Fibonacci [24] and m-Bonacci [25] sequences display
diffraction efficiency. In this application, the transpar- focal splitting with respect to periodically structured
ent annular zones of amplitude ZPs are replaced by a ones. Other aperiodic sequences with which we have
disjoint set of holes. designed multifocal diffractive lenses are the Thue–
Within this context, fractal zone plates (FZPs) were Morse [26], the Rudin–Shapiro [27] and the Walsh func-
proposed by our group as a new promising structured tions [28]. Another interesting mathematical genera-
diffractive lenses [14]. Under certain circumstances, a tor is the generalized precious mean sequence which
FZP can be considered as a conventional Fresnel zone includes the silver mean sequence [29,30]. This sequence
plate with certain missing zones. The resulting struc- has been employed in the development of different ape-
ture is characterized by its fractal profile along the riodic systems, such as photonic and phononic qua-
square of the radial coordinate. The axial irradiance sicrystals [31,32].
provided by a FZP when illuminated with a parallel In this paper, we show that silver mean zone plates
wavefront presents multiple foci creating a focal volume (SMZPs), i.e., ZPs with a distribution of zones based
on the silver mean sequence, are intrinsically quadri-
a
e-mail: agarm13a@upvnet.upv.es (corresponding author)
focals. The corresponding foci are located at reduced

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132 Page 2 of 6 Eur. Phys. J. D (2023)77:132

Fig. 1 Generation of the silver mean sequence up to order n = 5 and the transmittance function q(ζ) of the corresponding
SMZP

axial positions given by de Pell numbers that can be that takes at the j-th sub-interval is associated with
correlated with the involved aperiodic sequence. This the element Sn,j , being tn,j = 1, when Sn,j , is “A” and
property is experimentally verified and compared with tn,j = 0, when Sn,j , is “B” (see Fig. 1). In mathematical
the theoretical prediction computed numerically. Both terms, the transmittance function, q(ζ), can be written
results are in excellent agreement. as:
Pn +Pn−1
  
ζ − (j − 1/2)dn
q(ζ) = tn,j rect (2)
2 Silver mean zone plates design j=1
dn

The Pell numbers, Pn = {0, 1, 2, 5, 12, 29, 70, ...} are where ζ = ( ar )2 is the normalized quadratic radial coor-
obtained from the recurrence relation Pn = 2Pn−1 + dinate, r is the radial coordinate, a is the radius of the
Pn−2 (n ≥ 2), starting from the seeds P0 = 0 and lens and rect is the rectangular function. Figure 2 shows
P1 = 1 [33,34]. The silver ratio is defined as the limit a ZP based on the silver mean sequence of order n = 5.
of the ratio between two consecutive Pell numbers: Note that the number of zones of a SMZP of order
n coincides with Pn + Pn−1 , being Pn and Pn−1 the
Pn √ number of transparent and opaque zones, respectively.
φ = lim =1+ 2 (1) We have found that not only the number of zones is
n→∞ Pn−1
related to the Pell numbers but also the foci distribution
produced by the diffractive lens along the optical axis.
Based on Pell numbers, the so-called silver mean
For this, the focusing properties of a SMZP were studied
sequence can be generated from two seeds S0 = B
numerically, using the Fresnel–Kirchhoff formula [35,
and S1 = A as shown in Fig. 1. Each element of
36]:
the series is obtained from the following concatena-
tion rule: Sn = {Sn−1 Sn−1 Sn−2 } for n ≥ 2. This ik 2 2

aperiodic sequence can also be generated iteratively e−ikz e− 2z (x +y )

U (x, y, z) = −
by applying the substitution rules g(A) = AAB and  ∞ iλz
−ik 2 2 ik
g(B) = A, that is, S2 = AAB, S3 = AABAABA, q(x0 , y0 )e 2z (x0 +y0 ) e z (xx0 +yy0 ) dx0 dy0
S4 = AABAABAAABAABAAAB, etc. Note that the −∞
total number of elements of a given sequence of order n (3)
is Pn +Pn−1 , which results from the sum of Pn elements
“A” plus Pn−1 elements “B.” where U (x, y, z) is the amplitude of the diffracted field
When designing SMZPs, each of these sequences can at position (x, y, z), k = 2π
λ is the angular wave num-
be used to define the transmission generating function ber, λ is the wavelength and the integration limits cor-
q(ζ), with compact support on the interval ζ ∈ [0, 1]. respond to the opening dimensions. From Eq. (3), the
This interval is partitioned in Pn + Pn−1 sub-intervals irradiance can be obtained as the square of the ampli-
1
of length dn = Pn +P n−1
. The transmittance value, tn,j , tude for the diffracted field. Using normalized coordi-

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Fig. 4 Scheme of the experimental setup used to study the

focusing properties of SMZPs
Fig. 2 Silver mean zone plate of order n = 5
produce the formation of four foci distributed along
nates for the pupil plane as x̄0 = x0 y0 the axis. Note that the corresponding reduced focal
a , ȳ0 = a , the
irradiance is given by lengths ua , ub , uc , and ud approximate to Pn−1 , Pn−1 +
Pn−2 , 2Pn−1 and Pn , respectively. Therefore, the ratio √
I(x, y, u) between the focal distances is uuad ≈ φ = 1 + 2,
  2 1
√
ua ≈ 2, and ua ≈ 1 + φ =
uc ub
 ∞ 2 2  2, respectively. The higher
= 4u2  q(x̄0 , ȳ0 )ei2πu(x̄0 +ȳ0 ) e−i2π2u(xx̄0 +yȳ0 ) dx̄0 dȳ0 
−∞ the order of the sequence, the better these approxima-
(4) tions will be. For example, for n = 6, the discrepancy
between these approximations and the corresponding
2
a
where u = 2λz is the reduced axial coordinate. If only ratio between the focal distances is less than 0.07%.
the irradiance along the propagation axis is considered
and the diffractive element has radial symmetry, Eq.
(4) becomes 3 Experimental setup and results
 1 2
 

2 2
 The focusing properties of SMZPs have been studied
I(u) = 4π u  q(ζ)e−i2πuζ
dζ  (5) experimentally using the setup schemed in Fig. 4. The
  studied lens was implemented in the liquid crystal spa-
0
tial light modulator (SLM) (Holoeye PLUTO, 1920 ×
Figure 3 shows the axial normalized irradiance distri- 1080 pixels, pixel size 8 μm, 8-bit gray-level) operating
butions, corresponding to the first-order diffraction foci, in phase-only modulation mode. A collimated and lin-
computed for SMZPs of orders n = 4, 5, 6. The axial early polarized beam from an He-Ne Laser (λ = 633
irradiance was obtained from Eq. (5) using the 1D Fast nm) illuminates the SLM. The SLM is programmed to
Fourier Transform method, since this method requires show a linear phase grating in the zones with trans-
low computation time compared to other numerical mittance 1, while the rest of the display shows a con-
methods commonly used [36]. As can be seen, SMZPs stant phase. In this way, white zones are deflected to

Fig. 3 Normalized irradiance versus reduced axial coordinate of silver mean zone plates of orders n = 4, 5, 6

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Fig. 5 Comparison of numerical and experimental axial irradiance of a SMZP of order 5

Fig. 6 Evolution of the transverse intensity distribution produced by a SMZP of order 5

the first diffractive order of the grating, while black cm, zb = 18.91 cm, zc = 13.12 cm and zd = 10.91 cm.
zones are reflected specularly (zero diffractive order). The corresponding experimental reduced axial coordi-
The SLM plane is imaged through a telescopic system a2
nates, u = 2λz , are ua = 12.00, ub = 16.80, uc = 24.21
(L2 and L3). The SLM is slightly tilted to correct the and ud = 29.11, respectively. As predicted from the
linear phase, and a pinhole (PH) is positioned at the theoretical analysis, the location of each of these foci
Fourier plane to eliminate all diffraction orders of the approximates to ua ≈ 12 = P4 , ub ≈ 17 = P4 + P3 ,
linear phase grating except order +1. The PH also pre- uc ≈ 24 = 2P4 , and ud ≈ 29 = P5 . The ratio between
vents noise from the specular reflection (zero diffractive the positions of the fourth and first foci approximates√to
order) and the pixelated structure of the SLM (higher the silver ratio φ ≈ uuad = 2.426, while uuab = 1.44 ≈ 2
diffraction orders). In this way, the studied lens trans- and uuab = 2.02 ≈ 2.
mittance is projected at the pupil plane and its focusing
profile can be captured along the axis by a camera sen- To provide a more extensive study of the focusing
sor mounted on a motorized stage. characteristics of the SMZP, the transversal irradiance
We have experimentally characterized a SMZP of distribution in the xz plane was also computed numeri-
order n = 5 and a radius a = 2.01 mm. The experi- cally from Eq. (4) using the 2D Fast Fourier Transform
mental axial irradiance provided by this ZP is shown in method and captured experimentally (Fig. 6). As it can
Fig. 5 along with the irradiance obtained numerically be seen, both results are in full agreement confirming
for comparison purposes. It can be seen that the SMZP the quadrifocal behavior of the lens as well as the con-
provides four foci whose axial positions are za = 26.47 sistent ratios between its focal positions.

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4 Conclusions References

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