A new wave-front sensor

Summary form only given. Wave-fronts are surfaces of constant phase. The local propagation directions are oriented perpendicularly to these surfaces. Ordinary cameras are not phase sensitive and thus only two-dimensional images can be captured. Although several approaches like, e.g., Shack-Hartmann sensors exist, wave-front imaging with high spatial resolution and large dynamic range is still an unresolved and demanding problem. Applications are, e.g., in the fields 3D imaging and optical inspection. We propose a new technique to measure the three-dimensional wave-front of light waves.