title: Wave-front sensing with a sampling field sensor.
abstract: We present a new type of optical wave-front sensor: the sampling field sensor (SFS). The SFS attempts to solve the problem of real-time optical phase detection. It has a high space-bandwidth product and can be made compact and vibration insensitive. We describe a particular implementation of this sensor and compare it, through numerical simulations, with a more mature technique based on the Shack-Hartmann wave-front sensor. We also present experimental results for SFS phase estimation. Finally, we discuss the advantages and drawbacks of this SFS implementation and suggest alternative implementations.
authors.affiliation: Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tumbar
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Stack
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Brady