Wavefront sensor

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A wavefront sensor is a device for measuring the aberrations of an optical wavefront. Although an amplitude splitting interferometer such as the Michelson interferometer could be called a wavefront sensor, the term is normally applied instruments that do not require an unaberrated reference beam to interfere with. They are commonly used in adaptive optics systems, lens testing and increasingly in ophthalmology.

There are several types of wavefront sensors, including:

• Shack-Hartmann
• Wavefront Curvature Sensor
• Common Path Interferometer
• Shearing Interferometer
• Foucault Knife Edge Test

[edit] See also

• Wavefront
• Adaptive optics
• Deformable mirror

[edit] External links

• AO Tutorial: Wave-front Sensors
• Wavefront sensing: Establishments Research groups and companies with interests in wavefront sensing and adaptive optics.