We report an adaptive interferometric null testing method for overcoming the dynamic range limitations of conventional null testing approaches during unknown freeform optics metrology or optics manufacturing processes that require not-yet-completed surface measurements to guide the next fabrication process. In the presented adaptive method, a deformable mirror functions as an adaptable null com...

Geometrical optics analysis of the structural imperfection of retroreflection corner cubes is described. In the analysis, a geometrical optics model of six-beam reflection patterns generated by an imperfect retroreflection corner cube is developed, and its structural error extraction is formulated as a nonlinear optimization problem. The nonlinear conjugate gradient method is employed for solvi...

Adaptive optics calibration of a novel wide-field scanning microscope is described, comparing relevant parameters for several optimization techniques. Specifically, comparisons of the optimization algorithm, image quality metrics, and the calibration image target are detailed. It is shown that stochastic parallel gradient descent (SPGD) algorithm using image intensity as a metric provides robus...

We propose a variational-difference method for designing the optical free form surface of progressiveaddition lenses (PALs). The PAL, which has a front surface with three important zones including the far-view, near-view and intermediate zones, is often used to remedy presbyopia by distributing optical powers of the three zones progressively and smoothly. The problem for designing PALs could be...

We describe a novel method for measuring the unconstrained flatness error of thin, plane-parallel precision optics. Test parts are floated on high-density aqueous metatungstate solutions while measuring the flatness error with an interferometer. The support of the flat optics by the uniform hydrostatic pressure at the submerged face of the flat optic eliminates flatness errors caused by mountin...

While ray optics is a valid model for many multimode optical systems, it cannot capture diffraction and interference phenomena which may be required, for example, in calculating speckle propagation in multimode fiber. Wave optics includes the effect of interference and diffraction, but it is usually much more costly computationally. We show how to bridge the gap between ray and wave optics by u...