Digital Adaptive Optics Wavefront Correction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional adaptive optics systems require complex and costly hardware to detect and correct wave front aberrations, limiting their effectiveness and increasing system size and cost.
Innovation Solution
A digital adaptive optics method that generates orthogonally translated digital copies of the original sample field at the spatial Fourier or pupil plane to automatically determine wave front errors, eliminating the need for physical hardware and using phase differences between original and digital copies for correction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional adaptive optics hardware is used to detect and correct wave front aberrations, then wave front error measurement and image correction can be achieved, but system complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates digital copies of the optical wave front at the pupil plane and uses these digital copies to detect and correct aberrations. Instead of using physical hardware to measure wave front errors, the system generates orthogonal translations of the digital wave front representation and compares phases to determine aberrations, thereby reducing hardware complexity while maintaining measurement precision
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces mechanical/optical measurement systems with a digital computational approach. The wave front sensor captures the optical wave front, and then digital signal processing techniques are used to analyze phase differences between original and translated digital copies, eliminating the need for complex physical aberration correction hardware
2Reliability
If conventional adaptive optics hardware is used, then wave front correction can be performed, but system size and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses digital copies of the wave front instead of physical optical components for correction. By creating and manipulating digital representations of the wave front through computational algorithms, the system achieves reliable image correction without requiring additional physical hardware, thereby reducing system size while maintaining or improving image quality
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a digital processing intermediary between the optical wave front capture and the final image correction. This digital intermediary processes the wave front information through computational algorithms, enabling correction without direct physical intervention in the optical path, thus reducing system size and complexity
3Device complexity
If digital adaptive optics method is used, then hardware requirements are reduced, but computational processing is required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates digital copies of the wave front and processes these copies computationally. By working with digital representations rather than physical optics, the system reduces hardware requirements while using computational energy to perform wave front analysis and correction algorithms
Solution Approach 2:
The patent substitutes physical optical processing with computational processing. Instead of using hardware components to correct aberrations, the system uses digital signal processing algorithms to analyze and correct wave front errors, transferring the energy consumption from physical optics to computational processes
Data Source
AI summary
An optical apparatus is comprising an optical imaging arrangement generating either an image of the original object field or the field of the original sample at the pupil plane which consist of both amplitude and phase information. The apparatus is further comprising a digital adaptive optics arrangement with a wave front sensor and a computing unit, which is adapted to generate at least one orthogonally translated digital copy of the original sample object field at the spatial Fourier or pupil plane and to analytically calculate a wave front error based on the phase difference between the original sample wave front and its digital copy or copies.