Evaluating the performance of a thin-diffuser-based wavefront sensor

It has been proposed that a thin diffuser can be used as a simple wavefront sensor. This study investigates the ability of such a sensor to estimate wavefronts corresponding to single or multiple low-order Zernike modes. We show that the accuracy of wavefront reconstruction depends on the specific Zernike mode within a wavefront, its amplitude, and the distance between the diffuser and detector. We find that the amplitude and type of aberrations within a wavefront determine the optimal detector–diffuser distance for wavefront reconstruction. Moreover, the distribution of individual amplitudes within a multi-mode containing wavefront significantly influences the accuracy of a thin diffuser wavefront sensor, with higher residual root-mean-square values observed when the magnitude of spherical aberration is greatest, followed by coma, astigmatism, and defocus, respectively.