A guide to properly select the defocusing distance for accurate solution of transport of intensity equation while testing aspheric surfaces

Abstract

In this paper, the Transport of Intensity Equation (TIE) for testing of an aspheric surface is verified experimentally. Using simulation, a proper defocus distance Δo that leads to an accurate solution of TIE is estimated whenever the conic constant and configuration of the experiment are known. To verify this procedure a non-nulled experiment for testing an aspheric is used. For verification of the solution, the results are compared with the Shack-Hartmann sensor. The theoretical method and experimental results are compared to validate the results.