Review of multiscale optical design

Multiscale optical design is an approach that has been successfully utilized for over 100 years by optical designers and engineers to overcome challenges and achieve desired optical system performance. The benefits of the design paradigm include improving light collection, creating specific symmetries that can be exploited, collecting additional information about the object space, partitioning the optical field to enable piecewise correction of aberrations, and alleviating packing constraints. The purpose of this paper is to review the historical emergence of the use of multiscale optical design and present key examples of developments that have expanded its capabilities over the years.