Optical phase retrieval using four rotated versions of a single binary amplitude modulating mask

Abstract

In recent years, phase retrieval methods recovering the phase of an object from coded diffraction patterns have gained popularity. A numerical phase retrieval method called PhaseLift that recovers the phase of an object from a very limited number of coded diffraction patterns was recently proposed. Performance of PhaseLift has been analyzed for different types and the number of masks modulating an object. We present a unique application of PhaseLift that uses four rotations of a single mask, modulating only the amplitude of an object. In simulations, a phase screen with the root-mean-square (RMS) value 0.294 μm was used as the test object. The RMS value of the retrieved phase screen after smoothing was 0.257 μm. In experiments, the RMS value of a wavefront measured with a Shack–Hartmann wavefront sensor was 0.094 while that of the retrieved wavefront after smoothing was 0.054 μm. While PhaseLift is able to recover a wavefront using this kind of modulation, a serious limitation to applicability of this method is its high computational cost and time.