Abstract
Physical optics modeling requires propagating optical wave fields from a specific radiometric source through complex systems of apertures and reflective or refractive optical components, or even complete instruments or devices, usually to a focal plane or sensor. The model must accurately include the interference and diffraction effects allowed by the polarization and coherence characteristics of both the initial optical wave field and the components and media through which it passes. Like a spherical wave and a plane wave, a Gaussian spherical wave (or Gaussian beam) is also a solution to the paraxial wave equation and does not change its fundamental form during propagation. The propagation of a Gaussian beam is well understood and easily characterized by a few simple parameters. Furthermore, a paraxial Gaussian beam can be propagated through optical systems using geometrical ray-trace methods. The decomposition of arbitrary propagating wave fields into a superposition of Gaussian beamlets is, thus, an alternative to the classical methods of propagating optical wave fields. This decomposition into Gaussian beamlets has been exploited to significant advantage in the modeling of a wide range of physical optics phenomena.
Highlights
Over the last three decades, there has been a quiet revolution occurring in the computer modeling capability of both fundamental physical optics phenomena and performance predictions of sophisticated and advanced optical systems
Every physics and optical engineering student learns that an arbitrary optical wave field can be decomposed into a superposition of (Huygens’) spherical wavelets, i.e., the Rayleigh–Sommerfeld diffraction theory
The alternative method of decomposing an arbitrary optical wave field into a superposition of Gaussian beamlets has been implemented by software engineers in several commercially available software packages. These software packages are being extensively used by industry and government agencies to model the physical optics performance of increasingly advanced optical systems, including the polarization and coherence characteristics of those systems
Summary
Over the last three decades, there has been a quiet revolution occurring in the computer modeling capability of both fundamental physical optics phenomena and performance predictions of sophisticated and advanced optical systems. The alternative method of decomposing an arbitrary optical wave field into a superposition of Gaussian beamlets (this terminology, in analogy to the well-known Huygens’ spherical wavelets, was introduced by Al Greynolds in Ref. 2) has been implemented by software engineers in several commercially available software packages These software packages are being extensively used by industry and government agencies to model the physical optics performance of increasingly advanced optical systems, including the polarization and coherence characteristics of those systems. The resulting software is fast, accurate, user-friendly, provides impressive graphical output, and can potentially be used as a great tool After three decades, this powerful modeling technique has not yet been published in the peer-reviewed literature, or in physics or optics textbooks, nor is it generally being taught to physics or optics students even in our academic institutions specializing in optical sciences or optical engineering. Our motivation in publishing this paper is to introduce and demonstrate this powerful concept to optical engineers and educators with the hope that they will incorporate it into their toolbox of techniques for modeling and analyzing optical systems exhibiting polarization, interference, diffraction, and coherence phenomena
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