Wavefront sensor ignores vibration

Optical wavefront error is usually measured one of two ways, depending on the application. For characterizing the quality of an optical system, an interferometer provides a phase map of the wavefront that is accurate, highly detailed, and repeatable. Interferometers require a stable environment and a good deal of tweaking. For measuring wavefront error in adaptive-optics systems, a Shack-Hartmann or similar sensor produces such data in reasonably accurate form at high sampling rates and with little degradation due to mechanical vibration. Engineers at Phase Optics (Chicago, IL) have developed a wavefront sensor that combines advantages of both traditional wavefront measurement techniques.