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Updated: May 3, 2026

The Generation of Higher-order Laguerre-Gauss Optical Beams for High-precision Interferometry
Published on: August 12, 2013
Generation of spherical aberration with axially translating phase plates via extrinsic aberration
Abstract:
We show that spherical aberration of all orders can be generated as an extrinsic aberration in a system of axially translating plates. Some practical examples are provided. In particular for two phase plates that are 10 mm in diameter it is possible to generate from -10 to 10 waves of fourth-order spherical aberration with an axial displacement of +/- 0.65 mm. We also apply the phenomenon of extrinsic aberration for the generation of a conical wavefront and other non-axially symmetric wavefronts, in other words we propose what can be called a generalized zoom plate.
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