TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - POLYMERS - Preferred Method: The GRIN sheet is thermoformed, molded and/or machined into an aspherical GRIN lens. The refractive index of the multilayered composite GRIN sheet is varied mechanically by pressure, tension, compression and/or shear stresses. Preferred Components: The GRIN lens has an axial, radial, spherical, or aspherical GRIN distribution. The components (a) and (b) comprise a polymeric material, a composite polymer or a polymer blend. The polymeric material is a: glassy material, a crystalline material, a liquid crystalline material or an elastomeric material, preferably polyethylene naphthalate or its isomer, a polyalkylene terephthalate, a polyimide, a polyetherimide, a styrenic polymer, a polycarbonate, a poly(meth)acrylate, a cellulose derivative, a polyalkylene polymer, a fluorinated polymer, a chlorinated polymer, a polysulfone, a polyethersulfone, polyacrylonitrile, a polyamide, polyvinyl acetate, a polyetheramide, a styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer, a styrene-ethylene copolymer, poly(ethylene-1,4-cyclohexylenedimethylene terephthalate), an acrylic rubber, isoprene, isobutylene-isoprene, butadiene rubber, butadiene-styrene-vinyl pyridine, butyl rubber, polyethylene, chloroprene, epichlorohydrin rubber, ethylene-propylene, ethylene propylene-diene, nitrile-butadiene, polyisoprene, silicon rubber, styrene-butadiene, urethane rubber, polyoxyethylene, polyoxypropylene, or tetrafluoroethylene-hexafluoropropylene-vinylidene; and block or graft copolymer. The layers (A) and (B): have a thickness of 5 nm to 1000 mu m; and comprise an organic or inorganic material designed to affect the refractive index. The multilayered composite polymer films are stacked in ordered layers to form a hierarchical multilayered composite GRIN sheet, and the adjacent multilayered composite polymer films are selected to exhibit progressively different refractive indexes. The multilayered composite polymer film comprises at least 10 (preferably 50-500000) alternating layers. The multilayered composite GRIN sheet: comprises 5-100000 (preferably 20-10000) multilayered polymer composite films; exhibits an internal transmission greater than 20%; and has an overall thickness of 10 nm-10 cm, preferably 25 mm-3 cm. The multilayered polymer composite films exhibit different refractive indexes, where the difference in the refractive indexes is accomplished by altering the relative thickness of layers (A) and (B). The multilayered polymer composite film or multilayered composite GRIN sheet is uniaxially or biaxially oriented. The refractive index decreases in a direction towards a periphery of the lens. The components (a) and (b) are: chemically the same materials; and miscible, immiscible or partially miscible polymeric materials. EXAMPLE - No suitable example given.