Device for wavefront measurement of microscope objective lenses

The wavefront reconstruction of a light wave transformed by a microscope objective is the main subject of this diploma thesis together with the design and assembly of a~measuring device and the development of a computational algorithm. The purpose is to determine optical aberrations and to compare a quality of objectives with identical parameters. The term wavefront is explained and its description using Zernike polynomials is introduced in the first part of the thesis. The following part summarizes possible methods for wavefront reconstrucion. Two methods were chosen for experimental determination of a wavefront shape – shearing interferometry and solution of the transport of intensity equation. For each method a brief characteristic is provided together with possible applications, mathematical apparatus, image processing, computational procedure, setup description and proposition and results of experiments. The suitability of both methods for optical aberration determination and microscope objective comparison is discussed. Based on the obtained results, both methods were found to be suitable for comparison of microscope objectives. The suitability for optical aberration determination is possible with certain restrictions