Sensing a Wave Front by Use of a Diffraction Grating

A method is presented to sense the wave front at the exit of an optical surface. This method uses a set of diffracted rays generated when a He-Ne laser impinges on a rectangular diffraction grating. The grating was placed near the curvature center of the surface to be tested. After they are reflected in the test surface, the diffracted rays have the information of the slopes of the wave front, like in the Hartmann test. The Hartmann pattern was registered near the curvature center and captured with a CCD camera. The slopes for each ray are measured from the experimental pattern, and they are compared with the ideal ones simulated in a computer. The evaluation was carried out by use of Seidel polynomials to obtain the information of the aberrations of a mirror 53 cm in diameter.