Measurement of the diffraction-limit wavefront with double-shearing interferometers

In order to measure the diffraction-limit wavefront, we present three types of common-path double-shearing interferometers based on the theory of double shearing. Two pairs of half-aperture or whole-aperture wedge plates are used to introduce opposite tilt to realize the double-shearing function. By comparing the fringe widths in two fields, the marginal wavefront aberration can be obtained. In the paper, we give three different configurations: half-aperture configuration, whole-field configuration and double-interferometer configuration. The half-aperture configuration has the features of high sensitivity, stabilization and easy alignment. For the whole-field configuration, the interference fringes are displayed in two whole fields. Consequently, the divergent or convergent characteristic and aberration types of a wavefront can be identified visually. The whole-field configuration can be changed to the double-interferometer configuration for continuous test. Both small and large wavefront aberrations can be measured by the double-interferometer configuration. The minimum detectable wavefront aberration (W-0)(min) comes to 0.03 lambda. Lastly, we present the experimental results for the three types of double-shearing interferometers.

Phase-space analysis of wavefront coding imaging systems

We explore the use of the Radon-Wigner transform, which is associated with the fractional Fourier transform of the pupil function, for determining the point spread function (PSF) of an incoherant defocused optical system. Then we introduce these phase-space tools to analyse the wavefront coding imaging system. It is shown that the shape of the PSF for such a system is highly invarient to the defocous-related aberrations except for a lateral shift. The optical transfer function of this system is also investigated briefly from a new understanding of ambiguity function.

Wavefront conversion by local volume holograms between cylindrical and plane waves with reconstruction at a different readout wavelength

Based on the two-dimensional coupled-wave theory, the wavefront conversion between cylindrical and plane waves by local volume holograms recorded at 632.8 nm and reconstructed at 800 nm is investigated. The proposed model can realize the 90 degrees holographic readout at a different readout wavelength. The analytical integral solutions for the amplitudes of the space harmonics of the field inside the transmission geometry are presented. The values of the off-Bragg parameter at the reconstructed process and the diffracted beam's amplitude distribution are analysed. In addition, the dependences of diffraction efficiency on the focal length of the recording cylindrical wave and on the geometrical dimensions of the grating are discussed. Furthermore, the focusing properties of this photorefractive holographic cylindrical lens are analysed.

Wavefront measurement of double-clad pulsed ytterbium fiber laser

Because of high efficiencies, compact structure, and excellent heat dissipation, high-power fiber lasers are extremely useful for applications such as cutting, welding, precision drilling, trimming, sensing, optical transmitter, material processing, micromachining, and so on. However, the wavefront of the double clad fiber laser doped with ytterbium is still unknown. In this paper, wavefront of a fiber laser is measured and the traditional Hartmann-shack wavefront sensing method is adopted. We measured a double clad fiber laser doped with ytterbium which produces pulse wave output at infrared wavelength. The wavefront shape and contour are reconstructed and the result shows that wavefront is slightly focused and not an ideal plane wavefront. Wavefront measurement of fiber laser will be useful to improving the lasers' performance and developing the coherent technique for its applications.

Measurement of the wavefront of a laser diode system for intersatellite communication by a Jamin double-shearing interferometer

The frame of a laser diode transmitter for intersatellite communication is concisely introduced. A simple, novel and visual method for measuring the diffraction-limited wavefront of the transmitter by a Jamin double-shearing interferometer is proposed. To verify the validity of the measurement, the far-field divergence of beam is additionally rigorously analysed in terms of the Fraunhofer diffraction. The measurement, the necessary analyses and discussion are given in detail. By directly measuring the fringe widths and quantitatively interpreting the interference fringes, the minimum detectable wavefront height (DWH) of the wavefront is only 0.2 gimel (the distance between the perfect plane wavefront and the actual wavefront at the transmitting aperture) and the corresponding divergence is only 65.84 mu rad. This indicates that the wavefront approaches the diffraction-limited condition. The results show that this interferometer is a powerful tool for testing the semiconductor laser beam's wavefront, especially the diffraction-limited wavefront.

Optimized logarithmic phase masks used to generate defocus invariant modulation transfer function for wavefront coding system

In a previous Letter [Opt. Lett. 33, 1171 (2008)], we proposed an improved logarithmic phase mask by making modifications to the original one designed by Sherif. However, further studies in another paper [Appl. Opt. 49, 229 (2010)] show that even when the Sherif mask and the improved one are optimized, their corresponding defocused modulation transfer functions (MTFs) are still not stable with respect to focus errors. So, by further modifying their phase profiles, we design another two logarithmic phase masks that exhibit more stable defocused MTF. However, with the defocus-induced phase effect considered, we find that the performance of the two masks proposed in this Letter is better than the Sherif mask, but worse than our previously proposed phase mask, according to the Hilbert space angle. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America

Performance of an improved logarithmic phase mask with optimized parameters in a wavefront-coding system

In two papers [Proc. SPIE 4471, 272-280 (2001) and Appl. Opt. 43, 2709-2721 (2004)], a logarithmic phase mask was proposed and proved to be effective in extending the depth of field; however, according to our research, this mask is not that perfect because the corresponding defocused modulation transfer function has large oscillations in the low-frequency region, even when the mask is optimized. So, in a previously published paper [Opt. Lett. 33, 1171-1173 (2008)], we proposed an improved logarithmic phase mask by making a small modification. The new mask can not only eliminate the drawbacks to a certain extent but can also be even less sensitive to focus errors according to Fisher information criteria. However, the performance comparison was carried out with the modified mask not being optimized, which was not reasonable. In this manuscript, we optimize the modified logarithmic phase mask first before analyzing its performance and more convincing results have been obtained based on the analysis of several frequently used metrics. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America

Approximate analytical optical transfer function for a wavefront-coded imaging system with two-dimensional rectangularly separable phase masks

Wavefront coding can be used to extend the depth of field of incoherent imaging systems and is a powerful system-level technique. In order to assess the performance of a wavefront-coded imaging system, defocused optical transfer function (OTF) is the metric frequently used. Unfortunately, to the best of our knowledge, among all types of phase masks, it is usually difficult to obtain the analytical OTF except the cubic one. Although numerical computation seems good enough for performance evaluation, the approximate analytical OTF is still indispensable because it can reflect the relationship between mask parameters and system frequency response in a clearer way. Thus, a method is proposed to derive the approximate analytical OTF for two-dimensional rectangularly separable phase masks. The analytical results are well consistent with the direct numerical computations, but the proposed method can be accepted only from engineering point of view and needs rigorous proof in future. (c) 2010 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. [DOI: 10.1117/1.3485759]

High-power laser beam shaping by inseparable two-dimensional binary-phase gratings for surface modification of stamping dies

For surface modification of stamping dies, an inseparable two-dimensional binary-phase gratings is introduced to implement the wavefront transformation of high-power laser beams. The design and fabrication of the gratings are described in detail. Two-dimensional even sampling encoding scheme is adopted to overcome the limitations of conventional Dammann grating in the design of two-dimensional output patterns. High diffractive efficiency (>70%) can be achieved through the transformation of the Gaussian laser beam into several kinds of two-dimensional arrays in focal plan. The application of the binary-phase gratings in the laser surface modification of ductile iron is investigated, and the results show that the hardness and the wear resistance of the sample surface were improved significantly by using the binary-phase gratings. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cone Effect in Astronomical Adaptive Optics System Investigated by a Pure Numerical Simulation

It is well-known that cone effect or focus anisoplanatism is produced by the limited distance of a laser guide star (LGS) which is created within the Earth atmosphere and consequently located at a finite distance from the observer. In this paper, the cone effect of the LGS for different vertical profiles of the refractive index structure constant Cn2 is numerically investigated by using a revised computer program of atmospheric propagation of optical wave and an adaptive optics (AO) system including dynamic control process. According to the practice, the overall tilt for the tilt-correction mirror is obtained from a natural star and the aberrated wavefront for phase correction of the deformable mirror is obtained from a LGS in our numerical simulation. It is surprisingly found that the effect of altitude of the LGS on the AO phase compensation effectiveness by using the commonly-available vertical profiles of Cn2 and the lateral wind speed in the atmosphere is relatively weak, and the cone effect for some Cn2 profiles is even negligible. It is found that the cone effect does not have obvious relationship with the turbulence strength, however, it depends on the vertical distribution profile of Cn 2 apparently. On the other hand, the cone effect depends on the vertical distribution of the lateral wind speed as well. In comparison to a longer wavelength, the cone effect becomes more obvious in the case of a shorter wavelength. In all cases concerned in this paper, an AO system by using a sodium guide star has almost same phase compensation effectiveness as that by using the astronomical target itself as a beacon. Effect of dynamic control process in an AO system on the cone effect is studied in this paper for the first time within our knowledge.

基于畸变相位波前分形特征产生矩形湍流相屏

在包含时间进程的光波大气传输及其自适应光学相位校正的数值模拟研究中,如长曝光成像和自适应光学系统的动态控制过程,矩形湍流相屏的产生和应用尤为重要.而现在通常使用的功率谱反演法产生的是正方形的湍流相屏,只采用其中的矩形部分显然造成计算机资源的浪费;并且谱反演法产生的湍流相屏需要进行低频补偿,从而明显地增加计算量.基于大气湍流所造成的畸变相位波前的分形特征,提出了一种产生矩形湍流相屏的新方法,并与解析理论结果进行对比,验证了这种矩形相屏产生方法的正确性.与已有的方法相比,此算法具有两个明显的优点:算法简单、计算效率高,节省计算机资源;与大气湍流介质统计特性无论在高频部分还是在低频部分均符合得较好.

近衍射极限半导体激光束波面检测

在星间半导体激光通信系统中，如何检测发射光束波面的质量是个较难处理的问题，为了较好地解决这一问题，在简单介绍白光横向双剪切干涉仪的基础上，报道了用此干涉仪对近衍射极限半导体激光光束波面的检测，在此基础上推导出计算远场发散度的公式。实验测得近场光束的波高差为0．2A，通过夫朗和费衍射求得光束的发散度仅为64．8μrad，这表明光束接近光学衍射极限。同时，表明双剪切干涉仪灵敏度高、实用性好。

卫星激光通信Ⅱ地面检测和验证技术

星间激光通信终端的主要技术指标和运行性能必须事先在地面实验室条件下进行模拟检验, 因此在研制卫星激光通信终端的同时必须发展相应的系统性检测和验证平台, 主要包括激光通信性能检验、光跟瞄性能检验和光束质量检验。本文综述了卫星激光通信终端检验技术的国外进展, 介绍了我们全物理模拟的地面检测验证思路和方法。