Reconstructing highly divergent wavefronts from sparse measurements

Abstract

The paper presents a concept for the sparse measurement and reconstruction of highly divergent wavefronts enabling measurements at high throughputs and beyond the dynamic range of the wavefront sensor. In the proposed concept, a direct measurement of the wavefront is carried out, where a few segments of the wavefront are measured with Shack–Hartmann sensors (SHSs). In total about 1% of the wavefront is measured and used for the reconstruction of the entire wavefront, which makes the concept suitable for applications where low measurement times are needed. A simulation analysis and an experimental validation of the concept are carried out, and results show that a wavefront with a divergence of 62° can be reconstructed with a root-mean-square error of about 200 nm.