Invited - Multiplexed Hartmann Wavefront Sensors for Complex, Broadband, and Vector Wavefields

¹ Saints-Pères Paris Institute for the Neurosciences, CNRS UMR 8003, Université Paris Cité, 45 rue des Saints-Pères, Paris 75006, France
² Institut Langevin, ESPCI Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Paris 75005, France

^* Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published online: 22 September 2025

Abstract

Optical sensors are limited to measuring intensity. For this reason, wavefront sensors need to convert phase information into intensity modulations. One method to achieve this involves using a Hartmann mask positioned near a camera sensor. This technique is compatible with low- coherence illumination and has been implemented using various encoding optical elements, such as arrays of holes or microlens arrays. For instance, high-resolution and quantitative phase imaging has been demonstrated using a diffraction grating [1], a method known as lateral shearing interferometry (LSI) [2].

In this presentation, we will illustrate how LSI can also measure broadband speckle wavefields generated through multiple scattering media [3], enabling digital fluorescence phase conjugation through tissues [4]. Additionally, we will present a generalization of LSI using a birefringent diffraction grating to perform polarimetric LSI of vector beams [5], which is relevant for optical metrology and polarization-resolved fluorescence microscopy. Finally, we will demonstrate that this generalized principle can be applied to single-shot hyperspectral wavefront sensing, leveraging the spectral dispersion of thin scattering media, with applications in the metrology of ultrashort lasers [6].