Cylindrical lenses are classified into plano-convex cylindrical lenses, plano-concave cylindrical lenses, biconcave cylindrical lenses and biconvex cylindrical lenses. They are mainly used to meet design requirements for changing imaging dimensions. For instance, they can convert a point spot into a line spot, or alter the height of an image without changing its width. They can be applied in linear detector illumination, barcode scanning, holographic illumination, optical information processing, computers and laser emission. Optical cylindrical lenses also have extensive applications in high-power laser systems and synchrotron radiation beamlines.
