Frequency analysis of the wavefront-coding odd-symmetric quadratic phase mask

A mathematical analysis of the frequency response of the wavefront-coding odd-symmetric quadratic phase mask is presented. An exact solution for the optical transfer function of a wavefront-coding imager using this type of mask is derived from first principles, whose result applies over all misfocus values. The misfocus-dependent spatial filtering property of this imager is described. The available spatial frequency bandwidth for a given misfocus condition is quantified. A special imaging condition that yields an increased dynamic range is identified.