Derivation of the Transfer Function and Impulse Response for Fresnel Diffraction Maxwell showed that the electric field must satisfy the wave equation: ∇2 E − 1 ∂2E =0 v2 ∂t2 which means that the individual components (“polarizations”) also must satisfy this equation: ∇2 Ej − n2 ∂ 2 Ej =0 c2 ∂t2 where j = x, y, z specifies the component and v ≡ nc , where n is the refractive index. The complete solution for the electric field is the sum of the three polarizations over the integral of fields for all values of k and ω weighted by (generally complex-valued) weight function F [k, ω] = F [kx , ky , kz , ω], which is analogous to the frequency spectrum in the Fourier transform: E [x1 , y1 , z1 , t] = 3 X j=1 âj Z +∞ dω −∞ Z +∞ dkx −∞ Z +∞ dky −∞ Z +∞ −∞ dkz (F [kx , ky , kz , ω] exp [i (kx x + ky y + kz z − ωt)]) where the summation over j allows us to assign any polarization to the electric field. From this point forward we ignore the summation over polarizations, but the linearity of the equation allows us to add any additional contributions at the end if needed. If we apply the well-known trial solution E [x, y, z, t] = E0 exp [i (k • r − ωt)] to the wave equation in vacuum, we obtain two expressions that are related by the wave equation: ∇2 E = ∇2 (E0 exp [i (k • r − ωt)]) µ 2 ¶ ∂ ∂2 ∂2 = (E0 exp [−iωt]) + + exp [i (kx x + ky y + kz z)] ∂x2 ∂y 2 ∂z 2 ¡ ¢ = (E0 exp [−iωt]) · kx2 + ky2 + kz2 exp [i (kx x + ky y + kz z)] 2 = i2 |k| E = −k 2 E ∂2E = (−iω)2 E = −ω 2 E ∂t2 Thus the wave equation has the form yields the identity: ∇2 E − ³ ω ´2 1 ∂2E ω2 2 2 = −k E − E = 0 =⇒ k = =⇒ k = v2 ∂t2 c2 c ω c This relation a constraint to the general expression that may be expressed as the 1-D Dirac delta £ applies ¤ function δ k − ωc . Thus the constrained solution for the electric field is: Z +∞ Z +∞ Z +∞ Z +∞ h ωi dω dkx dky dkz (F [kx , ky , kz , ω] exp [i (kx x + ky y + kz z − ωt)]) δ k − E [x1 , y1 , z1 , t] = c −∞ −∞ −∞ −∞ If we assume that the light is monochromatic with frequency ω 0 (wavelength λ0 = 2πc ω0 ), then the integral over ω may be evaluated immediately by setting the temporal frequency dependence to a Dirac delta function: F [kx , ky , kz , ω] = F [kx , ky , kz ] · δ [ω − ω 0 ] which leads to the expression for the electric field:: E [x1 , y1 , z1 , t] Z +∞ Z +∞ Z = dkx dky ¶ h ωi dω F [kx , ky , kz ] · δ [ω − ω 0 ] δ k − exp [i (kx x + ky y + kz z − ωt)] c −∞ −∞ −∞ −∞ Z +∞ Z +∞ Z +∞ h ω0 i dkx dky dkz (F [kx , ky , kz ] exp [i (kx x + ky y + kz z)]) δ k − = exp [−iω 0 t] c −∞ −∞ −∞ +∞ dkz µZ +∞ 1 where the sifting property of the Dirac delta function has been used. This remaining 1-D Dirac delta function reduces the 3-D integral to 2-D. This means that the 3-D representation of E for one wavelength may be evaluated from a 2-D function. To evaluate ththat function, we need to integrate over one of the components of k. We’ll select the integral of kz , because we will define the source i x − y plane. h¡ distribution ¢in1 the 2-D £ ¤ ω0 ω0 2 2 2 2 Therefore, we must put the 1-D Dirac delta function δ k − c = δ kx + ky + kz − c in the form of δ [kz − (kz )0 ], where (kz )0 is the positive number that satisfies: ´ 12 h 2 ¡ ³ ¢i 12 ω0 ω kx2 + ky2 + (kz )20 − = 0 =⇒ (kz )0 = c20 − kx2 + ky2 c In other words, the argument of the 1-D Dirac delta function is a function of kz , and we must recall that expression. In this case, we have: h h¡ ¢ 1 ω0 i ω0 i δ k− = δ kx2 + ky2 + kz2 2 − = δ [g [kz ]] c c 1 ¡ ¢ ω0 where g [kz ] ≡ kx2 + ky2 + kz2 2 − c Dirac Delta Function of Functional Argument Recall that if g [x0 = 0], then: δ [x − x0 ] δ [g [x]] = ¯¯ ¯¯ dg ¯ dx ¯ x=x0 so we need to evaluate the derivative dg dkz using the chain rule: ¢− 1 dg 1¡ 2 kz = kx + ky2 + kz2 2 · 2kz = ¡ ¢1 dkz 2 kx2 + ky2 + kz2 2 At the root (kz )0 , this derivative takes the value: ¯ (kz )0 dg ¯¯ = ³ ´ 12 ¯ dkz kz =(kz ) 0 kx2 + ky2 + (kz )20 h 2 ¡ ¢i 12 ω0 2 2 − k + k 2 x y c = ³ h 2 ¡ ¢i´ 12 ω kx2 + ky2 + c20 − kx2 + ky2 h 2 ¡ ¢i 12 ω0 2 2 − k + k 2 x y c = ³ 2 ´ 12 ω0 c2 = h ω20 c2 ¢i 12 ¡ ¸1 ∙ − kx2 + ky2 ¢ 2 c2 ¡ 2 2 ¡ ω0 ¢ = 1 − 2 kx + ky ω0 c Thus the expression for the 1-D Dirac delta function in terms of (kz )0 is: h ω0 i δ k− = c δ [k − (kz )0 ] ¯ z¯ ¯ ¯ dg ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ dkz ¯kz =(kz ) ¯ 0 = h " 1 1− c2 ω20 δ kz − ¡ ¢i 12 kx2 + ky2 2 µ ¶ 12 # ¢ ω 20 ¡ 2 − kx + ky2 c2 Evaluate the Integral over kz When evaluating the 1-D integral over kz , the 1-D Dirac delta function allows us to substitute (kz )0 = ³ 2 ¡ ¢´ 12 ω0 2 2 − k + k at every appearance of kz : x y c2 Z +∞ −∞ Z +∞ h ω0 i dkz (F [kx , ky , kz ] exp [i (kx x + ky y + kz z)]) δ k − c ⎛ " µ ω 20 c2 ⎞ ¶ 12 # ¡ ¢ ⎟ − kx2 + ky2 ⎠ 1 ⎜ dkz (F [kx , ky , kz ] exp [i (kx x + ky y + kz z)]) · ⎝ h δ kz − ¡ ¢i 12 2 −∞ 1 − ωc 2 kx2 + ky2 0 ⎞ ⎛ " à µ 2 ¶ 1 !# ¢ 2 1 ω0 ¡ 2 ⎟ ⎜ 2 − kx + ky z exp i kx x + ky y + = ⎝F [kx , ky , (kz )0 ] h ¢i 12 ⎠ c2 2 ¡ 1 − ωc 2 kx2 + ky2 0 ⎞ ⎛ " µ ¶ 12 # ¢ 1 ω 20 ¡ 2 ⎟ ⎜ exp [i (kx x + ky y)] exp i = ⎝F [kx , ky , (kz )0 ] h − kx + ky2 z ¡ ¢i 12 ⎠ c2 c2 2 2 1 − ω 2 kx + ky = 0 Note that the only dependence on z appears in the last term. rename part of the integrand: " µ 2 ¶1 # ¢ 2 ω0 ¡ 2 2 − kx + ky A [kx , ky ; z] ≡ F kx , ky , h c2 2 1 − ωc 2 0 " µ 2 ¶ 12 # ¢ ω0 ¡ 2 = F kx , ky , − kx + ky2 h 2 c 2 1 − ωc 2 0 The same function evaluated at z = 0 is: " A [kx , ky ; z = 0] = F kx , ky , µ To simplify (and shorten!) this expression, we 1 exp [i (kz )0 z] ¡ ¢i 12 2 2 kx + ky " µ ¶1 # ¢ 2 ω 20 ¡ 2 1 2 exp i − kx + ky z ¡ ¢i 12 c2 kx2 + ky2 ¶ 12 # ¢ ω 20 ¡ 2 − kx + ky2 h c2 1− c2 ω 20 1 ¡ ¢i 12 kx2 + ky2 The entire integral now may be written as: µZ +∞ ¶ Z +∞ E [x1 , y1 , z1 , t] = exp [−iω 0 t] · dkx dky A [kx , ky ; z] exp [i (kx x + ky y)] −∞ = exp [−iω 0 t] · ÃZ −∞ +∞ −∞ dkx Z +∞ dky −∞ " µ ! ¶ 1 #! ¢ 2 ω 20 ¡ 2 2 − kx + ky z exp [i (kx x + ky y)] A [kx , ky ; 0] exp i c2 à which has the form of an inverse 2-D Fourier transform if we identify ky = 2πη. This leads to: and: ω0 c = 2π λ0 , k = |k| = " µ ¶1 # ¢ 2 ω 20 ¡ 2 2 exp [i (kz )0 z] = exp i − kx + ky z c2 ∙ ¸ ¡¡ 2 ¢¢¢ 12 2π ¡ 2 2 = exp i z 1−λ ξ +η λ0 exp [i (kx x + ky y)] = exp [+2πi (ξx + ηy)] 3 2π λ , kx = 2πξ, and The exact expression for the integral becomes: µ ∙ ¸¶ Z +∞ Z +∞ ¡ ¢¢ 1 2π ¡ E [x1 , y1 , z1 , t] = (2π)2 exp [−iω 0 t] dξ dη A [ξ, η; 0] · exp i 1 − λ20 ξ 2 + η2 2 z exp [+2πi (ξx + ηy)] λ0 −∞ −∞ We will ignore the temporal phase term exp [−iω 0 t] from this point forward, because it contributes no spatial dependence. The corresponding expression in the frequency domain is: µ ∙ ¸¶ ¡ ¢¢ 1 2π ¡ F2 {E [x1 , y1 , z1 , t]} = A [ξ, η; 0] · exp i 1 − λ20 ξ 2 + η2 2 z λ0 Approximating the Dependence on z The task now is to make approximations that allow the integral to be more readily. iThe obvious h evaluated ¡ ¡ 2 ¢¢ 1 2 2π candidate for this treatment is to remove the square root from exp i λ0 1 − λ0 ξ + η2 2 z . Recall the binomial theorem: n (n − 1) 2 n (1 + ε) = 1 + nε + ε + ··· 2! If |ε| << 1, then this simplifies to: (1 + ε)n ∼ = 1 + nε £ ¤1 If the radial spatial frequency ρ = ξ 2 + η2 2 is small compared to the reciprocal of the wavelength (ρ << ¡ 2 ¢ 2 1 λ−1 ξ + η2 : 0 ), then we can substitute n = 2 and ε = −λ ∙ ¸ ∙ µ ¶ ¸ ¡ ¢¢ 12 ¢ 2πi ¡ 2πi 1 2¡ 2 2 2 2 ∼ exp z 1 − λ0 ξ + η 1 − λ0 ξ + η z = exp λ0 λ0 2 ∙ ¸ ¡ £ ¢¤ 2πz = exp i · exp −iπλ0 z ξ 2 + η2 λ0 Thus we have the expression: µ ∙ ¸ ¶ ¡ £ ¢¤ 2πz F2 {E [x1 , y1 , z1 , t]} ∼ · exp −iπλ0 z ξ 2 + η 2 if ξ 2 + η2 << λ−2 = A [2πξ, 2πη; 0] · exp i 0 λ0 Transfer Function of Light Propagation This expression has the form of a modulation in the frequency domain, so we can identify the multiplicative term as a transfer function: h i £ ¡ ¢¤ 1 H [ξ, η; z1 ] = exp i 2πz · exp −iπλ0 z1 ξ 2 + η2 λ0 which describes the effect of light propagation on the field evaluated at z = 0 for ρ << λ−1 0 , which defines in the Fresnel diffraction region. 4 Impulse Response of Light Propagation We can then use the known Fourier transform to evaluate the corresponding impulse response in the Fresnel diffraction region. ∙ ¸ © £ ¡ ¢¤ª 2πz1 h [x, y; z1 ] = exp i · F2 exp −iπλ0 z1 ξ 2 + η2 λ0 ∙ ¸ © £ ¤ª © £ ¤ª 2πz1 = exp i · F1 exp −iπλ0 z1 ξ 2 · F1 exp −iπλ0 z1 η2 λ0 ∙ ¸ µ ¸¶ µ ¸¶ ∙ ∙ h πi h πi 1 1 2πz1 x2 y2 √ √ = exp i exp −i exp +iπ exp −i exp +iπ · · λ0 4 λ0 z1 4 λ0 z1 λ0 z1 λ0 z1 " # ¢ ¡ ∙ ¸ µ ¶2 ³ h i´ x2 + y 2 2πz1 1 π 2 = exp i exp +iπ · √ exp −i λ0 4 λ0 z1 λ0 z1 " # ¢ ¡ 2 ∙ ¸ x + y2 2πz1 1 = exp i (−i) exp +iπ · λ0 λ0 z1 λ0 z1 This the impulse response of light propagation in the Fresnel diffraction region: h [x, y; z1 ] = exp h 1 i 2πz λ0 i · 1 iλ0 z1 ¸ ∙ (x2 +y2 ) exp +iπ λ0 z1 In other words, the electric field at the plane z = z1 , which we will call g [x, y; z1 ], can be derived from the field at the plane z = 0, which we will call f [x, y; 0] via the 2-D convolution: " ¢ #! ¡ 2 µ ∙ ¸¶ à 2 + y x 1 2πz 1 g [x, y; z1 ] ∼ exp i f [x, y; 0] ∗ exp +iπ = iλ0 z1 λ0 λ0 z1 ¸¶ ∙ ³ h i´ µ (x2 +y2 ) π 1 g [x, y; z1 ] ∼ − i f [x, y; 0] ∗ exp +iπ = λ01z1 exp i 2πz λ0 2 λ0 z1 Interpretation of Fresnel Diffraction Since we can evaluate the equation for light propagation from a 2-D distribution of monochromatic light in the plane z = 0 as a convolution, then the process of light propagation in this approximation must be linear and shift invariant. The impulse response is proportional to a quadratic-phase factor, and thus is an “allpass” filter. The leading factor of z1−1 is due to the inverse square h lawifor light propagating “straight 1 represents the change in phase down” the z-axis from z = 0 to z = z1 . The constant-phase factor exp i 2πz λ0 of light along this same path. The approximation assumes that the effect of the inverse square law for light that travels at any angle relative to the z-axis is too small to be considered. The spherical waves emitted by the source(s) in the plane [x, y; 0] propagate sufficiently far so that the variation in amplitude with transverse distance [x, y] is ignored (i.e., the inverse square law only and the spherical wavefront is approximated by a paraboloidal wavefront. The Fourier transform of the quadratic-phase factor demonstrates that the transver function is a “downchirp,” a quadratic-phase factor with a negative sign. 5