Polychromatic optical transfer function of a perfect lens masked by birefringent plates
01 Aug 1988-Journal of The Optical Society of America A-optics Image Science and Vision (Optical Society of America)-Vol. 5, Iss: 8, pp 1207-1212
TL;DR: In this paper, the optical transfer function of a perfect-lens aperture masked by linear retarders or rotators with an analyzer at the output side is studied, where the beam of light considered is a polarized polychromatic beam with a Gaussian spectral profile.
Abstract: The optical transfer function of a perfect-lens aperture masked by linear retarders or rotators with an analyzer at the output side is studied. The beam of light considered is a polarized polychromatic beam with a Gaussian spectral profile.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the theory of optical transfer functions in 3D imaging is presented, with a focus on suitable methods for the establishment of calibration standards for 3D images and surface topography measurements.
Abstract: A significant number of areal surface topography measuring instruments, largely based on optical techniques, are commercially available. However,implementation of optical instrumentation into production is currently difficult dueto the lack of understanding of the complex interaction between the light and the component surface. Studying the optical transfer function of the instrument can help address this issue. Herea review is given of techniques for the measurement of optical transfer functions. Starting from the basis of a spatially coherent, monochromatic confocal scanning imaging system, the theory of optical transfer functions in three-dimensional (3D) imaging is presented. Further generalizations are reviewed allowing the extension of the theory to the description of conventional and interferometric 3D imaging systems. Polychromatic transfer functions and surface topography measurements are also discussed. Following presentation of theoretical results, experimental methods to measure the optical transfer function of each class of system are presented, with a focus on suitable methods for the establishment of calibration standards in 3D imaging and surface topography measurements.
79 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors derived the point spread function (PSF) and the optical transfer function for optical systems with polarization aberration and explored how image formation depends on the coherence and polarization state of the source.
Abstract: This paper is the first in a series that will examine image formation in optical systems with polarization aberrations. The present paper derives the point-spread function (PSF) and the optical transfer function for optical systems with polarization aberration and explores how image formation depends on the coherence and polarization state of the source. It is shown that the scalar PSF of Fourier optics can be generalized in the presence of polarization aberration to a 4 x 4 point-spread matrix (PSM) in Mueller matrix notation. A similar 4 x 4 optical transfer matrix (OTM) is shown to be an appropriate generalization of the optical transfer function. The PSM and the OTM are associated with the optical system and are independent of the incident polarization state but dependent on the coherence of the illumination. Since an optical system with polarization aberrations will have a different PSF and optical transfer function for different incident polarization states, the PSM and the OTM act as filters with regard to the incident polarization state. Example calculations are performed for a circularly retarding lens.
66 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors considered a specific imaging system consisting of a circularly symmetric polarization mask with linear polarizers having different orientations for the central circular and annular regions of an ideal lens aperture, and showed that the optical transfer function of such a system with an analyser at the output is seen to have three additive components, which are, in fact, the Fourier coefficients of the OTF which varies periodically w...
Abstract: The optical transfer function (OTF) of an imaging system using polarization devices depends in general on the state of polarization of the input beam. In fact, the ‘amplitude point spread function’ (APSF) of such a system is different for different linearly polarized components of the input beam. This implies that the APSF of a system using polarizing devices behaves as a vector quantity. The nature of the final image is determined by the relative contribution of the two components of the vector APSF. The specific imaging system considered in the present study consists of a circularly symmetric polarization mask with linear polarizers having different orientations for the central circular and annular regions of an ideal lens aperture. If the light originating from an object point is in general elliptically polarized, the OTF of such a system with an analyser at the output is seen to have three additive components, which are, in fact, the Fourier coefficients of the OTF which varies periodically w...
15 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the imaging characteristics of an optical system consisting of a lens made of a uniaxial birefringent crystal sandwiched between two linear polarizers under polychromatic input illumination were investigated.
Abstract: This paper reports the imaging characteristics of an optical system consisting of a lens made of a uniaxial birefringent crystal sandwiched between two linear polarizers under polychromatic input illumination. The optic axis of the birefringent crystal is perpendicular to the lens axis and for an initial investigation, the spectral profile of the input beam is considered to be uniform for all wavelengths. The study reveals that if the variation of the birefringence parameters of the device with the wavelength is less, a larger bandwidth may be used without considerably deviating from the imaging characteristics under strictly monochromatic illumination. The nonlinear variation of birefringence with wavelength results in an asymmetric axial irradiance distribution. This obviates an optimal operating wavelength as well as a proper choice of the lens material. It is found that no appreciable change in image quality under diffraction-limited condition results for an input beam having 632 nm operating wavelength and 60 nm bandwidth. Therefore, it may be feasible to use this system with a white light source in conjunction with a wavelength-selective filter.
7 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an active lens made of magneto-optic glass element and placed before a linear polarizer is shown to simulate the pupil plane amplitude and phase filter due to thickness dependent Faraday rotation variation in radial direction.
Abstract: An active lens made of magneto-optic glass element and placed before a linear polarizer is shown to simulate the pupil plane amplitude and phase filter due to thickness dependent Faraday rotation variation in radial direction. Changing the applied magnetic flux density can dynamically change the pupil characteristics. The variation of intensity point spread function (IPSF) and optical transfer function (OTF) with magnetic flux density for elliptically polarized input beam is studied.
5 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the effect of propagation of a polarised polychromatic beam having a truncated gaussian spectral profile has been studied and the degree of polarisation of the output beam is seen to be less than that of the input.
Abstract: The effect of propagation of a polarised polychromatic beam having a truncated gaussian spectral profile has been studied The degree of polarisation of the output beam is seen to be less than that of the input The effect of the change of the standard deviation of the profile on the degree of polarisation of the output has been considered Finally, the special case of a flat-top spectral profile has been discussed
23 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the optical transfer function (OTF) of a perfect lens with zonal masking of the lens aperture with polarisation devices has been studied and it is shown that the OTF of such system can be varied continuously by varying state of polarisation of the input beam and also by changing the orientation of the analyser placed at the output side.
Abstract: The optical transfer function (OTF) of a perfect lens with zonal masking of the lens aperture with polarisation devices has been studied. It is seen that the OTF of such system can be varied continuously by varying state of polarisation of the input beam and also by changing the orientation of the analyser placed at the output side.
21 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the optical frequency response of a perfect lens partially masked by a retarder has been studied and the optical transfer function of such a system depends upon the relative orientation of the analyser, placed at the output, relative to the slow and fast axes of the mask, and also on the relative aportioning of the lens aperture by the mask.
Abstract: The optical frequency response of a perfect lens partially masked by a retarder has been studied. The optical transfer function (OTF) of such a system depends upon the relative orientation of the analyser, placed at the output, relative to the slow and fast axes of the mask, and also on the relative aportioning of the lens aperture by the mask. The OTF of the system also depends upon the retardation introduced by the mask. In the present paper, we have computed the OTF of the masked lens for different values of the relevant parameters with and without the analyser at the output.
18 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the effect of propagation of an elliptically polarized polychromatic beam having a Gaussian spectral profile through an optically active medium is studied and the results of the previous paper can be obtained as a particular case of this generalized study.
Abstract: The degree of polarization of a polarized polychromatic beam decreases during the passage of the beam through an optically active medium. In a previous paper [ B. Chakraborty A. K. Chakraborty , J. Phys. D18, 145 ( 1985)], this depolarizing effect in the case of a linearly polarized polychromatic beam having a flat-topped spectral profile was studied. In the present paper the effect of propagation of an elliptically polarized polychromatic beam having a Gaussian spectral profile through an optically active medium is studied. The results of the previous paper can be obtained as a particular case of this generalized study.
11 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the effect of various phase and semi-transparent coatings may be simulated by making-the lens aperture by suitably oriented polarisation devices, and the effective PSF of the lens may be continuously varied by changing the orientation of the analyser at the output.
Abstract: The nature of the image produced by an optical system depends upon the point spread function (PSF) of the imaging system. It is thus necessary to modify the PSF of the system in order to change its imaging quality. This may be achieved by a number of ways. The usual practice is to modify the phase and amplitude transmission of different zones of ihu pupil. In the present paper, we have shown that the effect of various phase and semi-transparent coatings may be simulated by making-the lens aperture by suitably oriented polarisation devices. Besides, the effective PSF of the lens may be continuously varied by changing the orientation of the analyser at the output.
10 citations