Single-shot, reference-less computational wavefront sensing for complex optical fields

Yunhui Gao; Liangcai Cao; Din Ping Tsai

doi:10.1038/s41377-026-02241-5

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Single-shot, reference-less computational wavefront sensing for complex optical fields

Original Articles

- Single-shot, reference-less computational wavefront sensing for complex optical fields
- Light: Science & Applications Vol. 15, Issue 6, Pages: 1958-1973(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.Department of Electrical Engineering and State Key Laboratory of Optical Quantum Materials, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
  2.Department of Precision Instruments, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
  3.State Key Laboratory of Terahertz and Millimeter Waves, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
  4.Department of Physics, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
- Author bio：
  
  Liangcai Cao (clc@tsinghua.edu.cn)
  Din Ping Tsai (dptsai@cityu.edu.hk)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/s41377-026-02241-5
  CLC：
- Received：19 June 2025，
  
  Revised：2026-01-30，
  
  Accepted：11 February 2026，
  
  Online First：16 March 2026，
  
  Published：30 June 2026
- Accepted：
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Gao, Y. H., Cao, L. C., & Tsai, D. P. Single-shot, reference-less computational wavefront sensing for complex optical fields. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 1958-1973 (2026).
DOI：

Gao, Y. H., Cao, L. C., & Tsai, D. P. Single-shot, reference-less computational wavefront sensing for complex optical fields. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 1958-1973 (2026). DOI： 10.1038/s41377-026-02241-5.

摘要

Abstract

Optical waves carry rich information in their spatial profiles and topological structures. Characterization of optical wavefronts is a key prerequisite in broad applications across fundamental research and industrial technologies. However

existing wavefront sensing techniques typically compromise between spatiotemporal resolution

compactness

and versatility. Here

we present Spatial And Fourier-domAin Regularized Inversion (SAFARI)

a computational wavefront sensing approach that exploits the intrinsic physical properties such as smoothness to enable reliable reconstruction of complex wavefronts from a single exposure. Using a compact

diffuser-based wavefront sensor

we experimentally demonstrate single-shot

reference-less characterization of diverse complex wavefronts

including aberrations with up to 200 Zernike modes

structured beams carrying a topological charge of 150

and speckle fields containing more than 190

000 spatial modes. The proposed wavefront sensor offers high versatility while achieving performance comparable to or surpassing state-of-the-art task-specific solutions

making it a promising tool for coherent imaging and sensing at unprecedented resolution and complexity.

关键词

Keywords

references

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