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Updated: Jan 30, 2026

Shaping the Amplitude and Phase of Laser Beams by Using a Phase-only Spatial Light Modulator
Published on: January 28, 2019
Simultaneous phase and amplitude aberration sensing with a liquid-crystal vector-Zernike phase mask
Abstract:
We present an enhanced version of the Zernike wavefront sensor (WFS), which simultaneously measures phase and amplitude aberrations. The "vector-Zernike" WFS consists of a patterned liquid-crystal mask, which imposes a ±π/2 phase on the point spread function core through the achromatic geometric phase acting with the opposite sign on opposite circular polarizations. After splitting circular polarization, the ensuing pupil intensity images are used to reconstruct the phase and the amplitude of the incoming wavefront. We demonstrate reconstruction of the complex wavefront with monochromatic lab measurements and show in simulation the high accuracy and sensitivity over a bandwidth up to 100%.
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