Diffraction of a focused wave by an aperture: a new perspective.

Abstract

A new approach for calculating the field in the focal region along lines through the focal point of a lens is presented. In particular, the method is applied to a circular aperture. It is also applied to other shaped apertures, including circular sectors or segments, such as a semicircular aperture or Hilbert mask, and to polygonal shapes. The diffracted field is calculated by a one-dimensional Fourier transform, and can be used for accurate calculation at observation points distant from the focus. The approach gives new insight to appreciating the asymptotic behavior of the diffracted field, and the existence of intensity zeros, for different aperture shapes.