Fraunhofer diffraction patterns from uniformly illuminated square output apertures with noncentered square...

Theoretical Fraunhofer diffraction patterns are presented for uniformly illuminated square apertures with noncentered square obscurations. The energy within a given subtended solid angle in the far field is calculated. It is shown that the cornered-off-axis obscuration provides much more far-field energy in a given spot size than the centered obscuration for the same clear aperture area and total energy, for example, 82% more far-field energy in the first Airy square for 50% obscuration, thus providing superior performance for practical systems.