Optical processor arrays for controlling focal length or for tuning the depth of field

Abstract

Abstract-We present two families of optical processor arrays. One family uses a pair of complex conjugate phase arrays for implementing a varifocal lenslet array, which is useful for axial scanning. The other family uses a different pair of complex conjugate phase arrays for controlling the depth of field in a telecentric processor array.

Key concepts for extending the depth of field with high resolution

“…Our following discussion extends the results reported in references [38][39][40][41][42][43]. If one neglects the size of the mask, one element (of the AlvarezLohmann pair) has the following complex amplitude transmittance ( ) ( ) (14) In Eq.…”

Multiple-frame photography for extended depth of field

“…2 we show the MTF of the following systems: (a) a diffraction limited aperture, (b) an optical system with focus error coefficient W 1, (c) the average MTF associated with Eq. (6) for Qμ 1, and (d) an optical system with a cubic phase mask and a Gaussian apodizer [24]. It is apparent from Fig.…”