Direct observation of longitudinal aberrated wavefields

Rather than focusing on a focal spot, aberrated wavefields spread out over a region. As a wave phenomenon, optical aberrations are analyzed in terms of waves propagating in the 3D space. In this work, we report the observation of 2D longitudinal aberrated wavefields. This observation can be visualized by mapping the intensity distributions of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) that propagate on a metal/air interface using leakage radiation microscopy. The orientation of the SPP beam is tweaked by tilting and translating the system to mimic aberrated beams, presenting known Seidel terms: defocus, spherical, coma, and tilt aberration. This approach allows the examination of the longitudinal evolution of aberrated beams in a visual and rapid manner, in contrast to more complicated post-processing reconstructions. & COPY; 2023 Chinese Laser Press

Automated summary

This work reports the observation of 2D longitudinal aberrated wavefields by mapping the intensity distributions of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) propagating on a metal/air interface. The SPP beam orientation can be adjusted to mimic aberrated beams, showing Seidel terms such as defocus, spherical, coma, and tilt aberrations. This approach provides a visual and rapid examination of the longitudinal evolution of aberrated beams compared to more complicated post-processing reconstructions.