Analysis and improvement of accuracy, sensitivity, and resolution of the coherent gradient sensing method

The coherent gradient sensing (CGS) method, one kind of shear interferometry sensitive to surface slope, has been applied to full-field curvature measuring for decades. However, its accuracy, sensitivity, and resolution have not been studied clearly. In this paper, we analyze the accuracy, sensitivity, and resolution for the CGS method based on the derivation of its working principle. The results show that the sensitivity is related to the grating pitch and distance, and the accuracy and resolution are determined by the wavelength of the laser beam and the diameter of the reflected beam. The sensitivity is proportional to the ratio of grating distance to its pitch, while the accuracy will decline as this ratio increases. In addition, we demonstrate that using phase gratings as the shearing element can improve the interferogram and enhance accuracy, sensitivity, and resolution. The curvature of a spherical reflector is measured by CGS with Ronchi gratings and phase gratings under different experimental parameters to illustrate this analysis. All of the results are quite helpful for CGS applications. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America