Effect of spatial coherence on knife-edge measurements of detector modulation transfer function

When an image of an edge object is used in the determination of the modulation transfer function of a detector array, the partial coherence of the illumination is often ignored. Although this approximation is valid in some cases, it may not be satisfactory, particularly for the small detector elements characteristic of present-day charge-coupled devices. Here we demonstrate the effect of partial coherence on edge-based modulation transfer function determination for various pixel sizes, degrees of coherence, and f-numbers of the test optics.