The coherence function for optical metrology: a new paradigm and the role of information theory and compressed sensing

The coherence function offers new possibilities for optical metrology not available with conventional wave field sensing. Its measurement involves spatio-temporal sampling of wave fields modulated by the object under investigation. While the evaluation of the coherence function is more elaborate than conventional approaches, an information theoretical treatment shows that it also delivers more information about the object under investigation. In order to achieve efficient information extraction from the coherence function, advanced approaches involving compressed sensing are required to obtain optical metrology techniques that are simultaneously precise, robust and fast as well as suited for complex measurement situations.