Non-interferometric wavefront measurement of a plano-convex lens using multiplane-accelerated Wirtinger flow

Abstract

Interferometric testing of powered optics provides high accuracy but relies on reference optics, precise alignment, and a stable environment. This study presents a non-interferometric multiplane-accelerated Wirtinger flow (MP-AWF) method for recovering spherical-lens wavefronts from axially sampled diffraction intensities. The algorithm combines amplitudebased Wirtinger gradients from multiple planes with momentum acceleration to improve convergence. A USAF-target simulation demonstrates fine-grid image recovery beyond the detector sampling pitch. Experiments on a 400-mm focallength plano-convex lens produce a wavefront consistent with interferometric calibration; the reconstructed peak-to-valley and root-mean-square values each differ from the reference by only 0.006λ. These results demonstrate that MP-AWF enables accurate wavefront metrology and subpixel reconstruction in a compact, reference-free, and modulator-free configuration.