Two-beam interferometer for measuring aberrations of optical components with axial symmetry

We present a concept of interferometric testing, believed to be novel, that can be applied to measuring aberrations of optical components that have ro tational symmetry. The optical configuration uses two coherent, collimated wave fronts that are tilted to impinge upon the optical component being tes ted such that one beam is on axis and the other is off axis. For small tilt angles the two aberrated wave fronts can be considered to be carrying the same aberrations. Furthermore, the off-axis beam is displaced along a direc tion orthogonal to the optical axis of the component. Interference between the two aberrated wave fronts produces a fringe pattern that is similar to a lateral shear interference pattern. Moire fringes are obtained by spatial beating of the interference pattern with a CCD TV camera array. Under such conditions it is possible to subtract most of the linear carrier that is i ntrinsically present in the resultant fringe pattern owing to the large def ocus aberration and tilt. (C) 2001 Optical Society of America.