Optical transfer function synthesis: A geometrical optics approach

It is shown that, within the limits of geometrical optics, it is possible to specify a pure-phase pupil function that will produce any desired optical transfer function (OTF) or point spread function (PSF) in an incoherent optical processing system. A general prescription for finding the pupil function is presented, and specific analytical results are given for simple power-law PSFs. As an example, the fabrication and testing of a logarithmic phase plate that produces an appropriate PSF for incoherent optical processing of transaxial tomography data are discussed.