Measurement of Chromatic Aberrations Using Phase Retrieval

We explore the feasibility of measuring chromatic aberrations using a technique based on phase retrieval, primarily for the purpose of diagnostics on the OMEGA EP laser. A computational model and optimization strategy are described, issues of numerical efficiency are addressed, and the potential limitations of the method are studied using mathematical analysis and Monte Carlo simulations. The algorithm performs well in simulation and yields encouraging results in a small-scale laboratory experiment.