Real-time wavefront sensor for coherent wavefront characterization

摘要

The present invention is a two beam, double pass, phase shifting interferometric system for characterizing the phase profile of a radiation path. In the preferred form of the invention, a monochromatic beam is split into a reference beam and a test path beam. The test path beam is directed toward a fixed reflector which in turn directs that beam to the image sensor with a fixed length in the direction of propagation. The reference beam is directed to a movable reflector which directs that beam also to the image sensor, while introducing phase modulation. The system provides a measure of phase offset introduced into the reference beam at times of minimum or maximum intensity as measured by each photo detector in the image sensor, as the phase modulation of the reference beam is stepped over one complete wavelength. The phase profile of the test path is constructed using the accurate representation of the modulating refelector's position at the measured minimum or maximum intensity and the number of discontinuities in the phase offset data at each element's location.