Off-axis imaging with off-axis parabolic mirrors

Off-axis parabolic mirrors are commonly used to focus beams of light propagating along their optical axis. However, certain applications require the focusing of beams displaced from the optical axis. As this regime is less commonly encountered, we clarify certain unintuitive aspects of the imaging. These considerations have direct applications in implementing non-collinear optical geometries using a single parabolic mirror. (c) 2023 Optica Publishing Group

Automated summary

The article discusses the applications and unintuitive imaging characteristics of using off-axis parabolic mirrors to focus beams of light. These considerations have direct applications in implementing non-collinear optical geometries.