GOALI: Optical Differentiation Wavefront Sensing for High-Dynamic-Range High-Sensitivity Freeform Metrology

自由曲面光学元件是没有旋转对称性的光学元件，允许高性能光学系统降低成本，尺寸，重量和组装复杂性，现在用于增强现实的头戴式显示器，汽车照明，天文望远镜和投影系统等应用。自由曲面光学提出了重大的制造和计量挑战，并将大多数商用波前诊断推向其基本极限。PI将研究和演示一种新型波前传感器，即光微分波前传感器，这将提高对自由曲面光学测量的波前计量的基本认识并促进技术创新。光学微分波前传感器的成功演示和商业化，可能与坐标测量机相结合，将为生产计量设备和制造自由曲面光学元件的美国光学制造商提供竞争优势。这种波前传感技术可以应用于激光工程、天文学和生物医学成像等其他领域，从而提高国家科学、技术、国防、医疗保健和经济增长。通过与WiSTEE Connect的战略合作，这一目标倡议对女性融入的影响将是变革性的。WiSTEE Connect是PI创建的一个组织，旨在改善女性在科学、技术、工程和创业领域的领导力、职业机会和指导。该项目将提高参与的本科生和研究生在PI的多学科实验室的研究经验。它将使学生能够与行业导师互动，并促进创业职业道路。本GOALI提案的研究目标是展示一种新型的光学微分波前传感器，并研究其具有解耦动态范围和灵敏度的高精度和高精度自由曲面测量能力。通过与商用非接触式坐标测量机的结合，实现同时高动态范围和高精度的潜力也将被研究。研究将通过使用波前传感器的完整模型进行模拟和实验室演示各种配置的传感器，并应用于自由形状光学元件。PI将研究依靠二进制像素化滤波器的光学微分波前传感器测量波前斜率的能力，并实现解耦的动态范围和灵敏度，高精度和高动态范围的自由曲面波前测量。她将创建波前传感器和滤波器的模型，以研究光学系统和滤波器的设计参数对性能的影响。本文将对改进性能的新方法进行评估，例如孔径拼接增加可测量孔径大小和空间抖动算法设计二值像素化滤波器。在实验室环境中，通过对测试光学自由曲面元件进行表征，确定适合不同类别自由曲面光学元件的光学微分波前传感器的最佳配置。光学微分波前传感器与商业坐标测量机的协同组合，在动态范围和精度方面具有无与伦比的性能潜力，将通过建模和与工业co-PI合作进行研究。光学微分波前传感器的新实现将促进对该技术的基本理解，以表征自由形状光学，并阐明其相对于其他方法（如干涉测量法、偏转测量法、Shack-Hartmann传感器和坐标测量机）的潜在优势。提出的研究还将提高自由曲面测量和制造的技术能力。

Freeform optics are optical components having no rotational symmetry, allowing for high-performance optical systems with reduced cost, size, weight and assembly complexity which are now used in applications such as head-worn displays for augmented reality, automotive lighting, astronomical telescopes, and projection systems. Freeform optics present significant manufacturing and metrology challenges, and push most commercially available wavefront diagnostics to their fundamental limits. The PI will investigate and demonstrate a new type of wavefront sensor, the optical differentiation wavefront sensor, which will improve the fundamental understanding and promote technological innovation of wavefront metrology for the measurement of freeform optics. Successful demonstration and commercialization of the optical differentiation wavefront sensor, possibly in combination with a coordinate-measuring machine, will provide a competitive advantage to American optical manufacturers that produce metrology equipment and manufacture freeform optical components. This wavefront-sensing technology can be applied to other fields such as laser engineering, astronomy, and biomedical imaging, all of which improve national science, technology, defense, healthcare, and economic growth. The impact of this GOALI proposal on inclusion of women will be transformative through the strategic collaboration with WiSTEE Connect, an organization that the PI has founded to improve the leadership, career opportunity and mentorship for women in science, technology, engineering, and entrepreneurship. The project will enhance the involved undergraduate and graduate students research experience in the PI's multidisciplinary laboratory. It will enable student interactions with industrial mentors and promote entrepreneurial career paths. The research objective of this GOALI proposal is to demonstrate a novel optical differentiation wavefront sensor and investigate its capability for high-accuracy and high-precision freeform metrology with decoupled dynamic range and sensitivity. The potential to achieve simultaneous high-dynamic-range and high-accuracy through combination with a commercial non-contact coordinate-measuring machine will also be investigated. The investigation will be performed via the combination of simulations using a complete model of the wavefront sensor and laboratory demonstrations of various configurations of the sensor with application to freeform optical components. The PI will investigate the ability of an optical differentiation wavefront sensor relying on binary pixelated filters to measure wavefront slopes and achieve decoupled dynamic range and sensitivity, high-accuracy, and high-dynamic-range wavefront measurements of freeform surfaces. She will create models of the wavefront sensor and filters to investigate the performance impact of design parameters of the optical system and filters. Novel methods for improving the performance, e.g. aperture stitching to increase the measurable aperture size and spatial dithering algorithms for designing the binary pixelated filters, will be evaluated. Optimal configurations of the optical differentiation wavefront sensor appropriate for different classes of freeform optical components will be identified and tested in a laboratory environment by characterizing test optical freeform components. The synergetic combination of an optical differentiation wavefront sensor with a commercial coordinate-measuring machine, with the potential for unmatched performance in terms of dynamic range and accuracy, will be studied via modeling and collaboration with the industrial co-PI. The novel realizations of the optical differentiation wavefront sensor will advance the fundamental understanding of this technology for characterizing freeform optics and elucidate its potential advantages over other approaches such as interferometry, deflectometry, Shack-Hartmann sensors, and coordinate measuring machines. The proposed research will also advance the technological capability of freeform metrology and manufacturing.