Optical transfer function of an imaging system aperture masked by a retarder

Modification of diffraction pattern of a slit using polarized light having variable state of polarization

“…The modification of the characteristics of an optical imaging system can be largely extended by the possibility of utilizing the polarization -induced phase in imaging as was shown by Bhattacharya [5,6]. It may be mentioned in this connection that recent studies have convincingly proved that the polarization properties of light can be utilized for compensating Seidel aberrations as well that has also been shown by Roychoudhury [7,8] In our previous publications we have modified both the PSF and OTF of the perfect lens aperture masked by an oblique retarder [9,10] The recent interest in vector wave imagery calls for a systematic study of various diffraction problems using vector wave. It is well known that the Fraunhofer diffraction pattern of an object transparency is given by the Fourier transform of the transmission function of the object The Fourier transform of the far-field diffraction pattern gives the image of the object.…”