Exact two-dimensional wave-front reconstruction from lateral shearing interferograms with large shears

A method is proposed for exact discrete reconstruction of a two-dimensional wave front from four suitably designed lateral shearing experiments. The method reconstructs any wave front at evaluation points of a circular aperture exactly up to an arbitrary constant for noiseless data, and it shows excellent stability properties in the case of noisy data. Application of large shears is allowed, and high resolution of the reconstructed wave front can be achieved. Results of numerical experiments are presented that demonstrate the capability of the method. (C) 2000 Optical Society of America. OCIS codes: 120.3180, 120.4630, 120.5050.