Large diffractive/refractive apertures for space and airborne telescopes

Recent work, specifically the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Eyeglass and the DARPA MOIRE programs, have evaluated lightweight, easily packaged and deployed, diffractive/refractive membrane transmissive lenses as entrance apertures for large space and airborne telescopes. This presentation describes a new, innovative approach to the theory of diffractive and refractive effects in lenses used as telescope entrance apertures and the fabrication of the necessary large membrane optics. Analyses are presented to indicate how a broadband, highly transmissive diffractive / refractive membrane lens can be developed and fabricated, and potential applications in defense and astronomy are briefly discussed.