Detecting the Extremely Small Angle of an Axicon by Phase-Shifting Digital Holography

Axicon is an optical element that can be used to produce high-quality Bessel beams efficiently. In general, the smaller the base angle of the axicon is, the longer the diffraction-free distance of the generated Bessel beam will be. Therefore, axicon with an extremely small base angle is important for the generation of Bessel beam. However, the measurement of an extremely small base angle is a challenge. Here, we applied the phase-shifting digital holography in the measurement of axicon angle. The errors of the three measured axicons with base angles of 0.5°, 1°, and 1° were 1.94%, 4.43%, and 1.63%, respectively.