Wavefront sensing for a Shack–Hartmann sensor using phase retrieval based on a sequence of intensity patterns

Abstract

An iterative phase retrieval method is applied to a sequence of intensity patterns obtained from a Shack–Hartmann sensor to reconstruct an unknown wavefront. The simulation results validate the proposed technique even under noisy conditions. The effects of different parameters on the reconstruction accuracy are also investigated by a simulation. In addition, it is shown that this technique has a good capability for detecting the presence and location of optical vortices in the wavefront. The orientation and topological charge of the vortex are also reconstructed correctly.