Stitching algorithm for subaperture test of convex aspheres with a test plate

Subaperture stitching interferometry combined with a test plate is attractive for testing large convex aspheres, but the stitching algorithm is challenging because the aberrations induced by misaligned test surface or test plate are coupled with the surface figure. By relating the subaperture configuration to the overlapping deviations through ray trace and coordinate transformation, the subaperture misalignment is optimally recognized and corrected to give a minimal overlapping inconsistency in an iterative way. Allowing for misaligned test plate, we decompose the induced aberrations into three parts which are corrected by the stitching algorithm, removed in the form of the Zernike polynomials and left uncorrected as residuals. Finally we present simulation results of testing a convex aspheric mirror with a computer generated hologram which shows the algorithm successfully retrieves the surface figure with the test mirror or the hologram misaligned. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.