title: Reconstruction of laser beam wavefronts based on mode analysis.
abstract: We present the reconstruction of a laser beam wavefront from its mode spectrum and investigate in detail the impact of distinct aberrations on the mode composition. The measurement principle is presented on a Gaussian beam that is intentionally distorted by displaying defined aberrations on a spatial light modulator. The comparison of reconstructed and programmed wavefront aberrations yields excellent agreement, proving the high measurement fidelity.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Applied Optics, Abbe Center of Photonics, Friedrich Schiller University, Fröbelstieg 1, 07743 Jena, Germany. christian.schulze@uni‐jena.de
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schulze
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dudley
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Flamm
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Duparré
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Forbes