SpotOptics is pleased to present information on the principles of their wavefront sensors and wavefront sensor based systems. You can learn more on Zernike polynomials, Shack Hartmann wavefront sensor comparison with interferometers, aberrations and photo gallery on aberrations. FAQ on SH test is also available
Knowledge Corner
Shack-Hartmann vs. Hartmann test

Exceptional accuracy and precision of our Wavefront Sensors

SpotOptics Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensors results have been compared with results from the most popular interferometers : Zygo, Veeco, Fisba, 4D Technology
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Questions on Shack-Hartmann test
What is the Shack-Hartmann test and how is it different from the Hartmann test?
It is an extension of the Hartmann test. In the Hartmann test, a screen with holes is put in front of the primary mirror, and a photographic plate is placed near the telescope focus to record a pattern of spots. An analysis of the position of these spots gave the aberrations of the telescope.
Importance of using lenslet arrays with long focal length
Shack-Hartmann image of aspherical lens fl=50mm taken with OMI lenslet array fl=22mm and fl=11mm
![]() Shack-Hartmann image taken with OMI-22 (lenslet array with fl=22mm). The diamond turning marks are clearly visible |
![]() Shack-Hartmann image taken with OMI-11 (lenslet array with fl=11mm). The diamond turning marks are hardly visible |
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Zernike polynomials in SenSoft
Zernike polynomials used in Sensoft – our wavefront sensor software | ||
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Zernike polynomials represent a particular phase aberration W at a point P on a circular pupil and they are generally expressed in terms of the normalized radius r of the pupil and the azimuthal angle φ, by the following expression: rn cos (m φ + φ0)
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