ABSTRACT
Classical optical systems have a long history of development. One may think of the first lens systems or binoculars as 'parallel' optical systems. More recently, a complex integration of light source, beam splitter, lenses and detectors was realized in laser disc heads. Classical optical systems cover a large field ranging from low-cost systems in video cameras with approx. 1010 image points to expensive and high performance lens systems for photolithography with a space bandwidth product (SBP) of approx. 109 . In the latter case, about 100 different optical elements have to be combined and aligned very precisely. Future optical products for classical imaging tasks such as lithography or for new tasks such as information processing will require even more powerful and flexible optical systems. A promising way of increasing the performance and applicability of optical systems is the micro-integration of parallel optical systems or array systems.
