Comparison of lens and Fresnel null correctors.
Fresnel null correctors are compared with classical Offner and Hindle null correctors for both optical performance and system sensitivities to errors of construction and placement in the test setup. Fresnel null correctors are closely related to circular diffractive null correctors, the main difference being that a Fresnel uses tilted grooves functioning like a blazed diffraction grating. The Fresnel has an advantage in that specific power terms can produce an aspheric wave front directly and not as the byproduct of bending lenses as in the traditional lens null correctors. The parametric relationships are summarized for a range of configurations of lens null correctors and for Fresnel null correctors. The sensitivities to construction and deployment errors are presented for each of these examples. The performance of two Fresnel correctors for an autocollimation test of a full three-mirror Cassegrain configuration is presented.
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