Wave-front sensing by pseudo-phase-conjugate interferometry.

A wave-front sensor based on pseudo-phase-conjugate interferometry is presented. We show that a pseudo-phase-conjugate interferometer is suitable for the measurement of phase distribution on a propagating wave. This new method may be employed for optical workshop applications and wave-front sensing for adaptive optics. The theoretical sensitivity of the interferometer is twice that of the Hartmann-Shack wave-front sensor. Preliminary laboratory experiments demonstrate excellent performance and consistency with computer simulations.