WAVE-FRONT SENSING BY PSEUDO-PHASE-CONJUGATE INTERFEROMETRY

A wave-front sensor based on pseudo-phase-conjugate interferometry is presented. We show that a pseudo-phase-conjugate interferometer is sui table for the measurement of phase distribution on a propagating wave. This new method may be employed for optical workshop applications and wave-front sensing for adaptive optics. The theoretical sensitivity o f the interferometer is twice that of the Hartmann-Shack wave-front se nsor. Preliminary laboratory experiments demonstrate excellent perform ance and consistency with computer simulations.