Aspheric lens very flexible in comparison to CGHs and are also suitable for the production of prototypes and small series. Like other lenses for vision correction, aspheric lenses can be categorized as convex or concave. Convex aspheric curvatures are used in many presbyopic vari-focal lenses to increase the optical power over part of the lens, aiding in near-pointed tasks such as reading. The reading portion is an aspheric "progressive add". Also, in aphakia or extreme hyperopia, high plus power aspheric lenses can be prescribed, but this practice is becoming obsolete, replaced by surgical implants of intra-ocular lenses. Many convex types of lens
Compound refractive lens the order of meters, by using many lenses in series. To minimize the absorption the lens must be made from a material such as aluminium, beryllium, or lithium. CRLs were first demonstrated in the mid-1990s by a group of scientists at the ESRF. They drilled holes in an aluminium block, and achieved focusing in two dimensions. For X-rays a concave lens focuses the X-rays because the index of refraction is slightly below unity. In a CRL of this type the walls between the cylindrical holes act as concave lenses for X-rays traveling perpendicular to the axis of the drilled cylinders.