Imaging with tilted surfaces: an efficient matrix method for the generalized Scheimpflug condition and its application to rotationally symmetric triangulation

An efficient two-dimensional matrix method is presented that facilitates the design of optical systems with tilted surfaces for which the requirement or knowledge of the orientation of the image plane is necessary, i.e., for which a generalized Scheimpflug condition is needed. In more general terms, the method results in imaging properties of second-order expansion, but the method is linear. Therefore the complexity of the design process is considerably reduced. The strength of the design method is demonstrated in detail for a novel application in which a reflective optical system of several surfaces is required for rotationally symmetric triangulation.