A Novel Approach for Measurement of Free-Form Optical Elements with Digital Holographic Microscopy

Free-form optical elements face significant challenges in high-precision measurement due to their high complexity and non-rotational symmetry. Digital holographic microscopy (DHM), as one of the methods for the measurement of free-form optical elements, has promising applications due to its ultra-high precision and non-destructive and fast characteristics. Therefore, we have designed a novel measurement method that combines transmission DHM and reflection DHM to obtain thickness information and surface information of elements to deduce the 3D structure. With this method, we completed the measurement of a free-form optical element. The DHM system we built has recorded holograms under 4× and 20× objectives and successfully recovered the 3D surface shape of the element. The measurements are consistent with the designed and manufactured parameters, demonstrating the unique advantages of DHM for measuring special types of optical elements.