Coherent field propagation between tilted planes

Watching the watchers: camera identification and characterization using retro-reflections

A focused imaging system such as a camera will reflect light directly back at a light source in a retro-reflection (RR) or cat-eye reflection. RRs provide a signal that is largely independent of distance providing a way to probe cameras at very long ranges. We find that RRs provide a rich source of information on a target camera that can be used for a variety of remote sensing tasks to characterize a target camera including predictions of rotation and camera focusing depth as well as cell phone model classification. We capture three RR datasets to explore these problems with both large commercial lenses and a variety of cell phones. We then train machine learning models that take as input a RR and predict different parameters of the target camera. Our work has applications as an input device, in privacy protection, identification, and image validation.

A WISER way for simulating the performance of gratings

Soft X-ray monochromators for synchrotron radiation sources have been continuously developed over the years, improving energy resolution and stability. Great effort has been made in improving the surface quality of the optics involved, reaching values permitting diffraction-limited images. Still, one problem has not been solved, nor fully understood, yet: groove placing errors. Nowadays, these are one of the major factors responsible for resolving the power reduction of diffraction-gratings-based X-ray monochromators. Despite decades of use of gratings, there is not yet a universally established method for predicting and simulating the effect of groove placing errors on monochromator performance. This is especially important in the new scenario of high-coherent X-ray sources, i.e. diffraction-limited storage rings and free-electron lasers. To address this problem, in this article an approach based on WISER (Wavefront propagatIon Simulation codE libRary) is presented. WISER is a physical optics simulation package, also available in the user-friendly Orange Synchrotron Radiation Suite - OASYS. Even though it was originally conceived to assess the focusing performance of X-ray mirrors in the presence of height defects, it perfectly simulates the performance of a periodic (or quasi-periodic) structure like a diffraction grating. In this article, the way to use WISER and its application to a specific case, e.g. the design of a monochromator for the upgrade of a beamline at the Advanced Light Source, are shown. A simple rule for estimating how well the grooves are placed on a grating, based on calculation of the Strehl ratio, is also presented.

Characterization of surface defects using a phase retrieval technique in a high-power laser system

In the framework of high-power lasers, surface defects on optics can generate strong light intensification and induce damage sites on downstream optics. To evaluate this intensification during high-energy laser shots, a three-step method is proposed. First, a dedicated measurement bench is designed to measure the intensification induced by defects on a wide variety of optics, including amplifier slabs, KDP crystals, mirrors, gratings, and vacuum windows, for propagation distances up to 2000 mm. A multi-resolution single-beam multiple-intensity reconstruction phase retrieval algorithm is then used to reconstruct a model of the defect, in both amplitude and phase, from a set of intensification measurements. Finally, the impact of the modeled defect on downstream optics is evaluated with a simulation of the high-power laser system. This method is experimentally validated through a case study of damage identified on one of the Laser Mégajoule (LMJ) beams, characterized with the method presented in this paper. The long-distance impact on the LMJ beam is estimated by simulation and compared to a direct near-field measurement.

Optical bench simulation for intraocular lenses using field-tracing technology

Purpose

To evaluate the image quality of intraocular lenses (IOLs) using field-tracing optical simulation and then compare it with the image quality using conventional ray-tracing simulation.

Methods

We simulated aspheric IOLs with a decenter, tilt, and no misalignment using an aspheric corneal eye model with a positive spherical aberration. The retinal image, Strehl ratio, and modulation transfer function (MTF) were compared between the ray-tracing and field-tracing optical simulation and confirmed by the results reported in an in vitro experiment using the same eye model.

Results

The retinal image showed interference fringes from target due to diffraction from the object in a field-tracing simulation. When compared with the experimental results, the field tracing represented the experimental results more precisely than ray tracing after passing over 400 μm of the decentration and 4 degrees of the tilt of the IOLs. The MTF values showed similar results for the case of no IOL misalignment in both the field tracing and ray tracing. In the case of the 200-μm decentration or 8-degree tilt of IOL, the field-traced MTF shows lower values than the ray-traced one.

Conclusions

The field-tracing optical bench simulation is a reliable method to evaluate IOL performance according to the IOL misalignment. It can provide retinal image quality close to real by taking into account the wave nature of light, interference and diffraction to explain to patients having the IOL misalignment.

Light diffraction in slab waveguide lenses simulated with the stepwise angular spectrum method

A stepwise angular spectrum method (SASM) for curved interfaces is presented to calculate the wave propagation in planar lens-like integrated optical structures based on photonic slab waveguides. The method is derived and illustrated for an effective 2D setup first and then for 3D slab waveguide lenses. We employ slab waveguides of different thicknesses connected by curved surfaces to realize a lens-like structure. To simulate the wave propagation in 3D including reflection and scattering losses, the stepwise angular spectrum method is combined with full vectorial finite element computations for subproblems with lower complexity. Our SASM results show excellent agreement with rigorous numerical simulations of the full structures with a substantially lower computational effort and can be utilized for the simulation-based design and optimization of complex and large scale setups.

Angle Multiplexing Optical Image Encryption in the Fresnel Transform Domain Using Phase-Only Computer-Generated Hologram

We propose an angle multiplexing method for optics-based image encryption using a phase-only computer-generated hologram (POCGH) in the tilted Fresnel transform (TFrT) domain. Modified Gerchberg-Saxton algorithms, based on the three types of rotation manipulation in both the hologram and reconstruction planes, are used with their corresponding TFrT parameters to extract the phase-only functions (POFs) of the target images. All the extracted POFs are then phase-modulated and summed to obtain the final POCGH, which is capable of multiplexing and avoiding overlap in the reconstructed images. The computer simulation results show that the images corresponding to the various rotation manipulations at the hologram and image reconstruction planes can be successfully restored with high correlation coefficients. Due to the encrypted nature of the multiplexed images, a higher system security level can be achieved, as the images can only be correctly displayed when all the required parameters in the TFrT are available. The angle sensitivity on the image quality for each manipulation is also investigated.

Fast computation and characterization of perturbed Bessel-Gauss beams

In this paper, an extended definition of the Strehl ratio is introduced for Bessel-Gauss (BGB) beams, which, in contrast to classical beams, are not defined at a single point but along the optical axis. For that purpose, the Fresnel diffraction integral is solved analytically to calculate the on-axis field of a BGB that is perturbed by spherical aberration, astigmatism, and coma. Certain approximations are introduced, discussed, and tested against a rigorous propagation method. The derived expression is applied to tolerancing of an example system.