Geometrical aberration measurement by experimental ray-tracing based on fiber point diffraction interferometry

Abstract

The geometrical aberration of an optical system is usually measured through wavefront aberration. We propose a very direct experimental ray-tracing measurement method in this paper. Two fiber point-light sources are used to simulate an arbitrary incident ray in space, the diffracting wavefronts of the two fibers pass through the lens under test and interfere on two photographic planes. The outgoing ray intersects the photographic planes at the extrema of their phase maps, thus can be traced by connecting the two intersections. We measure four kinds of geometrical aberrations of the lens and compare them with Zemax simulation results. This method provides a new solution for the geometrical aberration measurement of an optical system.

Wavefront Aberration Measurement Deflectometry for Imaging Lens Tests

“…The star test analyzes the aberrations by examining the images of a point source formed by the lenses under test (LUT) and compares them with the ideal image form, which depends heavily on experience [1]. The interferometry test is a widely accepted method that obtains the wavefront aberration by measuring the optical path difference (OPD) [6][7][8]. The interferometry test can achieve very high accuracy.…”

“…Compared with traditional methods [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10], WAMD is more flexible and can achieve sub-wavelength-level accuracy. Although its accuracy cannot achieve the same level as that of interferometry test, it can work in situations where the aberration is too large to be tested by an interferometer [6][7][8]. Moreover, the measurement facilities are simple and the measurement procedure is easy to operate.…”