Wave optical propagation in realistic lens systems through multi-slice decomposition with phase compensation

Abstract

A fast and accurate optical simulation is essential in the design and analysis of optical systems. We propose a wave propagation method through multi-slice decomposition with phase compensation (MSDP) to calculate the wave propagation in realistic lens systems. An estimation of the phase compensation term for the refraction effect and diffraction effect is given, and a modified phase compensation term is presented for calculation through optical systems with a high numerical aperture or an incident optical field featuring a broad spectrum. The proposed method yields accurate and fast results for micro-optical lens systems with the radius of curvature comparable to an illumination wavelength. In a macroscopic optical system with a high numerical aperture, an object with abundant spatial frequencies is reconstructed from the diffraction patterns produced by a single aspherical lens, further demonstrating the effectiveness and applicability of the method in realistic lens systems.