title: Integrated diffractive shearing interferometry for adaptive wavefront sensing.
abstract: We present theory, design, and preliminary experimental studies for a compact wavefront sensor based on lateral shearing interferometry using a binary phase grating, image sensor, and Fourier-based processing. The integrated system places a diffractive element directly onto an image sensor to generate interference fringes within overlapping diffraction orders. The shearing ratio and the interferogram signal-to-noise ratio directly affect the reconstruction accuracy of wavefronts with differing spatial variations. Optimal shearing parameters associated with the autocorrelation of the input encourage placing a spatial light modulator as the diffractive element allowing adaptive wavefront sensing. Experimental results from a fixed-grating system are presented as well as requirements for next-generation adaptive systems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0407, USA
authors.forename: Jason H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Karp
authors.forename: Trevor K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Joseph E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Ford