Applications of wavefront modulation devices in aspheric and freeform measurement

Abstract

Wavefront modulation devices are of great significance in optical information processing systems. These devices capable of phase modulation are used in a variety of optical applications: wavefront correction, optical metrology, adaptive optics, aberration compensation, etc. The liquid crystal spatial light modulators (LC-SLMs) and deformable mirrors (DMs) have been regarded as the promising device for their flexibility and programmability on wavefront modulations. This paper presents applications of LC-SLMs and DMs when they are used as aberration compensators in testing of aspheric and freeform. Besides, a pixel-wise method based on analysis of the phase maps obtained by a Fizeau interferometer for calibrating the phase modulation characteristics of the LC-SLM is proposed. A PLUTO-VIS-020 LC-SLM produced by the Holoeye Company is employed in the calibrating experiment. A Zygo interferometer based on Fizeau interference theory is also employed. The experimental results demonstrate that the phase modulation characteristics of LC-SLM and a specific lookup table (LUT) for every pixel of the LC-SLM aperture can be obtained by utilizing the proposed method with convenience and high efficiency. The device calibrated in this paper provides a high phase shift up to 6π at 632.8nm wavelength and has a linearized phase distribution. It coincides well with the average modulation curve offered in the manual of the device. This paper provides a simple and accurate method for pixel-wise phase modulation characteristics calibration.