Patent ID: 7804601

Claim:
A method for characterizing an optical system using a holographic reticle, the method comprising: receiving two beams of coherent optical radiation; adjusting a first beam to have a cylindrical wavefront; adjusting a second beam to have a planewave wavefront; interfering said two beams, resulting in an interference volume of optical radiation having an interference pattern; recording said interference pattern in a recording medium to create said holographic reticle; configuring said optical system such that a first plane that includes said holographic reticle is positioned obliquely to a second plane where an image is recorded; placing said holographic reticle in a path of an optical beam within said optical system; and recording the image produced by the path of the optical beam passing through said holographic reticle; wherein the image is configured to characterize said optical system for at least one of field curvature, astigmatism, coma, distortion, telecentricity, spherical aberrations, and variation of coherence.