Abstract
The measurement of the complex cross-spectral density function of a light beam is discussed using a new type of shearing interferometer. This interferometer is composed principally of only an imaging lens system such as a microscope and an ordinary transparent diffraction grating replica. This interferometer is self-aligning, inexpensive, and able to introduce precise wavefront shears of the order of a few light wavelengths. A theoretical analysis of the instrument is developed giving expressions for calculating the magnitude and phase of the cross-spectral density function using observable properties of the interference pattern formed by the instrument. A simple experiment is described which demonstrates the operation of the instrument.
© 1977 Optical Society of America
Full Article | PDF ArticleMore Like This
D. N. Grimes
Appl. Opt. 10(7) 1567-1570 (1971)
D. Nyyssonen
Appl. Opt. 16(8) 2223-2230 (1977)
A. H. Firester, M. E. Heller, and P. Sheng
Appl. Opt. 16(7) 1971-1974 (1977)