Speckle patterns of weak diffusers: effect of spherical aberration

Abstract

The structure and dynamics of speckles formed by a weak diffuser in the presence of severe spherical aberration have been studied. Two cases were considered. In the first case the diffuser is treated as an object, and the speckles are observed in the paraxial, least confusion, and marginal planes. In the second case the diffuser placed in various planes is illuminated by a spherically aberrated wave front from a lens. The results are illustrated by photographs, and heuristic arguments are given to account for them.

High resolution displacement detection by speckle pattern analysis : accuracy limits in linear displacement speckle metrology

“…The surface of the aluminum target was preconditioned with fine sandpaper to achieve better statistical properties of the reflected light. This was stipulated by the knowledge that contrast and speckle statistics might change under certain conditions [9]- [11].…”

Effect of optical aberration on Gaussian laser speckle

“…However, Stetson observed that lens aberrations affect speckle photography [8,9]. Bahuguna et al demonstrated that the effect of spherical aberration to speckle from a strong diffuser is ignorable, and only speckle generated from a weak diffuser is dependent on spherical aberration [10,11]. However, his analysis is confined to heuristic explanations using geometrical ray techniques without theoretical descriptions.…”