A wavefront sensor based on the fractional Talbot effect

Abstract We propose a wavefront sensor based on the fractional Talbot effect. Optical wavefronts are measured by sampling the light amplitude distribution with a two-dimensional periodic phase grating. At certain fractions of the self-imaging distance, a reference wavefront generates an array of bright spots – the so-called Fresnel images of the grating. The local shifts in the Fresnel images that take place in the presence of wavefront aberrations can be related to the local wavefront slope. In an analysis of the angular and spatial resolution the variable measurement range and accuracy of this method is discussed. Finally some experimental results will illustrate this approach.

[1]  K Kodate,et al.  High-performance talbot array illuminators. , 1998, Applied optics.

[2]  R G Lane,et al.  Wave-front reconstruction using a Shack-Hartmann sensor. , 1992, Applied Optics.

[3]  D. E. Silva,et al.  A simple interferometric method of beam collimation. , 1971, Applied optics.

[4]  T Jitsuno,et al.  Shack Hartmann wave-front measurement with a large F-number plastic microlens array. , 1996, Applied optics.

[5]  Robert C. Cannon,et al.  OPTIMAL BASES FOR WAVE-FRONT SIMULATION AND RECONSTRUCTION ON ANNULAR APERTURES , 1996 .

[6]  Enrique E. Sicre,et al.  Wavefront sensor using the Talbot effect , 1999 .

[7]  J. Winthrop,et al.  Theory of Fresnel Images. I. Plane Periodic Objects in Monochromatic Light , 1965 .

[8]  Robert C. Cannon,et al.  Global wave-front reconstruction using Shack–Hartmann sensors , 1995 .

[9]  A W Lohmann,et al.  Making an array illuminator based on the talbot effect. , 1990, Applied optics.

[10]  J. Y. Wang,et al.  Wave-front interpretation with Zernike polynomials. , 1980, Applied optics.

[11]  V. Arrizon,et al.  Talbot array illuminators with optimum compression ratio. , 1996, Optics letters.

[12]  Krzysztof Patorski,et al.  I The Self-Imaging Phenomenon and its Applications , 1989 .

[13]  J. Goodman.  Introduction to Fourier optics , 1969 .

[14]  V. A. Loginov,et al.  Optimal wavefront reconstruction from a Shack-Hartmann sensor by use of a Bayesian algorithm , 1994 .

[15]  E W Silvertooth,et al.  High finesse interferograms. , 1971, Applied Optics.

[16]  J. Schwider,et al.  Absolute sphericity measurement: a comparative study of the use of interferometry and a Shack-Hartmann sensor. , 1998, Optics letters.