A new source of a reference spherical wave for a point diffraction interferometer

A new type of a spherical wave source based on a probe for a near-field microscope for a precision interferometry is reported. Experimental data of wave deformations of the light generated by the probes are given. For a numerical aperture of optics under study NA=0.22 the obtained deformations are low than λ/2000 for a red light of He-Ne laser.