Analog holographic wavefront sensor for defocus and spherical aberration measurement recorded in a photopolymer

An analog holographic wavefront sensor (AHWFS), for measurement of low and high order (defocus and spherical aberration) aberration modes has been developed as volume phase holograms in a photopolymer recording medium. This is the first time that high order aberrations such as spherical aberration can be sensed using a volume hologram in a photosensitive medium. Both defocus and spherical aberration were recorded in a multi-mode version of this AHWFS. Refractive elements were used to generate a maximum and minimum phase delay of each aberration which were multiplexed as a set of volume phase holograms in an acrylamide based-photopolymer layer. The single-mode sensors showed a high degree of accuracy in determining various magnitudes of defocus and spherical aberration generated refractively. The multi-mode sensor also exhibited promising measurement characteristics and similar trends to the single-mode sensors were observed. The method of quantifying defocus was improved upon and a brief study into material shrinkage and sensor linearity is presented.

Automated summary

An analog holographic wavefront sensor (AHWFS) has been developed for measuring low and high order aberration modes using volume phase holograms in a photopolymer recording medium. This is the first time that high order aberrations such as spherical aberration can be sensed using a volume hologram in a photosensitive medium. The sensors showed accurate measurements of defocus and spherical aberration, and the multi-mode sensor exhibited promising characteristics similar to the single-mode sensors. Improvement in quantifying defocus and a brief study on material shrinkage and sensor linearity were also presented.