MyntOptics Engineering Tools
Tools / Wavefront analysis

Zernike Wavefront & PSF Analyzer

Synthesize a pupil wavefront from Noll-indexed, RMS-normalized Zernike coefficients (Z₁–Z₁₅), then compute the exact diffraction point-spread function by FFT of the complex pupil. Strehl is reported both from the Mahajan approximation and from the true PSF peak ratio.

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What this does: any optical imperfection (a "wavefront error") can be broken into named shapes — defocus, coma, spherical, astigmatism — called Zernike terms. Drag a slider to dial in an aberration and watch the focused spot (the PSF) blur in real time. The Strehl ratio tells you how good the image still is (1.0 = perfect). Try the preset buttons below.

Zernike coefficients (waves RMS, Noll)

System / display

nm
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D/D

Wavefront & image metrics

Conventions: coefficients are Noll-normalized, so each value is that term's RMS contribution in waves and total RMS = √Σcⱼ² (piston excluded; tilt shifts the PSF without blurring it). Mahajan: S ≈ exp[−(2πσ)²] with σ the RMS in waves excluding piston & tilt.

What this means

Wavefront map (waves)

PSF (image plane)

PSF cross-sections through peak

Learn: wavefront error, Strehl & the PSF

A perfect lens turns incoming light into a spherical wavefront converging to a point. Real optics deform that wavefront; the deformation, measured in waves (multiples of λ), is the wavefront error.

The point-spread function (PSF) is the blur spot a single point of light becomes — computed here exactly by Fourier-transforming the pupil. The Strehl ratio is its peak height vs a perfect lens; Strehl ≥ 0.8 (equivalently RMS ≤ λ/14, the Maréchal criterion) is the line for "diffraction-limited."

Each aberration has a signature: defocus a uniform spread, coma a comet tail, spherical a bright core with a halo, astigmatism a line that rotates through focus.