Modeling the topographic lateral resolution of interferometers (Invited Paper)

Performance characteristics for interferometers that measure surface topography include the ability to resolve closely spaced surface features, referred to as topographic spatial resolution. Within well-defined limits, scalar diffraction theory and classical Fourier optics provide a software model for prediction of the resolution and spatial frequency response for interference phase-based measurements of surface topography. Analytical solutions and adaptive sampling allow for rapid simulation of both the nominal linear transfer function and an estimate of intrinsic residual nonlinearities.