Light-efficient, quantum-limited interferometric wavefront estimation by virtual mode sensing.

Area of Science:

• Optical Metrology
• Wavefront Sensing
• Interferometry

Background:

• Accurate wavefront sensing is crucial for optical system performance.
• Low-light conditions pose significant challenges for traditional wavefront sensors.
• Existing phase unwrapping techniques struggle with photon-starved measurements.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and analyze an interferometer-based virtual modal wavefront sensor (VMWS).
• To demonstrate the VMWS's capability for direct Zernike coefficient measurement.
• To evaluate the VMWS's performance, particularly its light efficiency and precision at low light levels.

Main Methods:

• Development of an interferometer-based virtual modal wavefront sensor (VMWS).
• Configuration of the VMWS for direct measurement of modal coefficients (e.g., Zernike).
• Numerical simulations to assess performance against state-of-the-art methods.

Main Results:

• The VMWS exhibits high light efficiency, utilizing all available photons for each modal coefficient determination.
• Numerical simulations indicate superior performance compared to state-of-the-art phase unwrapping at low light levels.
• Aberrations up to Zernike mode 21 were measured with a precision of approximately 0.17 rad (λ/37) using low-resolution images and ~400 photons.

Conclusions:

• The VMWS provides a significant advancement in wavefront sensing for low-light applications.
• Its light efficiency and precision make it suitable for photon-limited imaging and metrology.
• The sensor demonstrates potential for high-accuracy aberration measurement in challenging optical environments.