Fresnel lens
succession of concentric rings, each consisting of an element of a simple lens, assembled in proper relationship on a flat surface to provide a short focal length (see illustration-->). The Fresnel lens is used particularly in lighthouses and searchlights (searchlight) to concentrate the light into a relatively narrow beam. It would be almost impossible to make a large lighthouse lens of the usual solid glass-disk type because the thickness and weight would be prohibitive; the lighter Fresnel lens is constructed of elements that are separately ground and polished from suitable glass blanks and assembled to make up the complete lens.A one-piece molded-glass Fresnel lens is convenient for spotlights (spotlight), floodlights, railroad and traffic signals, and decorative lights in buildings. Cylindrical Fresnel lenses are used in shipboard lanterns (lantern) to increase visibility.
A wide variety of thin Fresnel lenses are molded in plastic, the width of the rings being only a few thousandths of an inch, for use as field lenses with ground-glass screens in cameras and small projectors to increase the brightness of the outer parts of the screen.
Georges-Louis Leclerc (Buffon, Georges-Louis Leclerc, count de) de Buffon (1748) originated the idea of dividing a lens surface into concentric rings in order to reduce the weight significantly. In 1820 this idea was adopted by Augustin-Jean Fresnel in the construction of lighthouse lenses.
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