Measurement of crystal defects using phase retrieval technique

In high power laser systems, crystal defects introduced by manufacturing have significant impact on quality of light beams; finally affect the output status of high power laser system. The phase retrieval algorithm can precisely measure the crystal defects, such as the residual periodic perturbations in a relatively large area and the relatively small point defects, with the resolution of micrometer magnitude. At the same time, the multiple near-focus intensity measurements algorithm used here can retrieve the morphology of focal spot, which is modulated by the defects and cannot be directly measured due to its high power. In addition, the algorithm has been improved in order to use less measurement planes and less iteration times to complete retrieval.