The paper presents a feasibility study for an optical system, based on a diffractive membrane. The authors have analyzed structural design of diffractive optical elements for space application and developed finite element models of diffractive lens’s carrier and mount. The models were developed for two different schemes: MOIRE project and for the original scheme, developed by the authors. The s...

We carry out a complete spatio-temporal characterization of the electric field of an ultrashort laser pulse after passing through a diffractive optical element composed of several binary amplitude concentric rings. Analytical expressions for the total diffraction field in the time and spectral domain are provided, using the Rayleigh-Sommerfeld formulation of the diffraction. These expressions a...

Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are widely used as spatial light modulators (SLMs) in many applications (optical signal processing, holographic data storage, diffractive optics...). In particular, as an alternative microoptics recording scheme we have explored the possibility to use a LCD to display the diffractive optical element (DOE) to be recorded onto a photosensitive phase material, so as ...

An investigation of the chromatic properties of waveguide lenses is described. In general, the focal length of mode-index and Fresnel zone (diffractive) lenses will be a function of wavelength. As a result, these lenses will have high optical quality over only a relatively small wavelength range. A method is given to correct for this chromatic dispersion by forming a hybrid mode-index/diffracti...

In this paper, the physics that determines the performance limits of a diffractive optical element based on a liquid-crystal ͑LC͒ optical phased array ͑OPA͒ is investigated by numerical modeling. The influence of the fringing electric fields, the LC material properties, and the voltage optimization process is discussed. General design issues related to the LC OPA configuration, the diffraction angl...

We report on a compact interferometer for the water-window soft-x-ray range that is suitable for operation with laser-plasma sources. The interferometer consists of a single diffractive optical element that focuses impinging x rays to two focal spots. The light from these two secondary sources forms the interference pattern. The interferometer was operated with a liquid-nitrogen jet laser-plasm...

We demonstrate high-resolution x-ray differential interference contrast DIC in a compact soft x-ray microscope. Phase contrast imaging is enabled by the use of a diffractive optical element objective which is matched to the coherence conditions in the microscope setup. The performance of the diffractive optical element objective is evaluated in comparison with a normal zone plate by imaging of ...

The simulation of optical wavefront decomposition on Zernike polynomials based on the multi-channel diffractive optical element (DOE) was performed. This approach is an alternative to classical wavefront sensors and may be used to determine weighted values of aberrations in the analysed wavefront in real time thus, facilitating the aberrometry analysis of the human eye optical system. An invest...

We show that a simple (few-element) arrangement for wavelength-multiplexed digital holography allows the measurement of the electric field E x ,y , t of a femtosecond laser pulse on a single shot. A slightly rotated twodimensional diffractive optical element and a variable-wavelength filter together generate multiple spectrally resolved digital holograms that are simultaneously captured in a si...