I[sup]3[/sup] Sensor Wavefront Performance

The I3 Sensor is a modified Hartmann wavefront sensor which combines the simplicity of the basic test with modulation techniques. The result is a sensor with vastly improved stability and dynamic range over the basic Hartmann centroid measuring technique, while retaining the high light collection efficiency of the basic system. The 13 Sensor performance has been demonstrated to approach the theoretical performance limit of wavefront phase accuracy as a function of signal-to-noise ratio. These results were obtained in a practical engineering configuration. The basic form of the sensor, modulation and refer ence techniques will be described. The performance will be compared with the basic Hartmann test and with other wavefront sensors.© (1980) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.