Moreno 2010 FRFT

Chapter 3
Fractional Fourier Transforms

and Geometrical Optics
Ignacio Moreno* and Carlos Ferreira†
Contents 1. Introduction 90
2. The ABCD Ray Transfer Matrix Method 91
2.1. Physical Meaning of the ABCD Elements 92
2.2. Basic Optical Components and Ray Transfer
Matrices 94
2.3. Cardinal Elements of the Optical System 96
2.4. Lenses and Imaging 99
2.5. Self-Focusing Graded Index Ducts 102
3. Extension to Anamorphic Optical Systems 104
4. Wave Optics Properties of Geometrical Systems:
Fourier Transform Systems 108
4.1. Connection between Wave and Ray Optics
Formalisms 108
4.2. Exact Fourier Transform Optical System 109
4.3. Scale of the Optical Fourier Transform 110
4.4. Basic Fourier Transform Optical Lens Systems 112
4.5. Ray Transfer Matrix Factorizations 113
4.6. Anamorphic Optical Fourier Transformers 117
5. Cascading Multiple Equivalent Systems:
The Fractional Fourier Transform 120
5.1. Heuristic Concept of the FRFT Optical System 120
5.2. Derivation of the Ray Transfer Matrix of an FRFT
System 121
5.3. Propetries of the FRFT Operation 123
5.4. Basic FRFT Optical Systems 126
* Departamento de Ciencia de Materiales, Optica y Tecnologı́a Electrónica, Universidad Miguel Hernández,

Elche, Spain
{
Departamento de Optica, Universidad de Valencia, Burjassot, Spain
Advances in Imaging and Electron Physics, Volume 161, ISSN 1076-5670, DOI: 10.1016/S1076-5670(10)61003-8.
Copyright # 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
89
90 Ignacio Moreno and Carlos Ferreira
5.5. Symmetrical Lens Systems 127

5.6. Inexact Fractional Fourier Transformers 129
5.7. Fractional Fourier Transforms and Fresnel
Diffraction 130
6. Cardinal Planes in Fractional Fourier Transform Lens
Systems 131
6.1. Cardinal Planes in a Lohmann Type I FRFT System 131
6.2. Cardinal Planes in a Lohmann Type II FRFT System 132
7. Some Advanced FRFT Lens Systems 134
7.1. FRFT Lens System with Fixed Input and
Output Planes 135
7.2. FRFT Lens System with Fixed Scaling Factor 138
7.3. Anamorphic FRFT Optical Systems 140
8. Conclusions 143
Acknowledgments 143
References 143
1. INTRODUCTION
The Fourier transform (FT) is one of the most important mathematical

tools used in signal processing, linear systems theory, and optics. The
fractional Fourier transform (FRFT), a generalization of the FT operation
to fractional orders (Condon,1937; Moshinski, 1971), has received much
attention in the optics community since its introduction in this field in
1993 (Mendlovic, 1993), especially for the treatment of problems regard-
ing the propagation of light. In the initial works by Mendlovic (1993) and
Ozaktas (1993a), Ozaktas (1993b) suggested the propagation through a
quadratic graded index medium with different lengths to perform FRFTs
with different orders. Shortly thereafter, Lohmann (1993) proposed two
bulk lens systems to perform the FRFT. The first system is a propagation-
lens-propagation scheme, while the second one follows a lens-propaga-
tion-lens scheme. In these two systems, the FRFT order was controlled by
changing the ratio between the focal length and the distance of free
propagation. Later, Mendlovic (1994) demonstrated the equivalence of the
two types of systems (graded index and bulk lens). The FRFT was further
generalized to complex orders by Shih (1995) and Bernardo (1996b).
Since then, numerous works have dealt with the optical FRFT, its
properties, and their application to explain different phenomena in optics
with a new perspective. For instance, the close connection between FRFT
and Fresnel diffraction was established by Pellat-Finet (1994), Andrés
(1997), Hua (1997), and Mas (2000). Moreover, it was found that an
FRFT relation exists between the complex amplitude distribution of
light on two spherical surfaces of given radii and separation (Alieva,
Fractional Fourier Transforms and Geometrical Optics 91
1994; Hwang, 2005; Ozatkas, 1995; Pellat-Finet,1994). The propagation

inside resonators and its mode content were related to the FRFT operation
by Ozatkas (1994, 1997), Pellat-Finet (2006), and Zhao (1999), while the
FRFT concept was applied to lens-design problems by Bernardo (1994),
Dorsch (1995) and Lohmann (1995). Optical processing based on FRFT
operations was also proposed and demonstrated by Mendlovic (1996),
Unnikrishnan (2000), and Zalevsky (1997). Excellent reviews of these and
other works related to the FRFT operation can be found in Lohmann
(1998), Ozatkas (1999, 2001), Pellat-Finet (2001), and Torre (2002).
The purpose of this chapter is not to review the vast amount of
research on the FRFT in optics. Instead, we focus on the properties of
the optical systems performing FRFT related to concepts of geometrical
optics. For that purpose, we use the ABCD ray transfer formalism
throughout the chapter. This formalism is valid for first-order paraxial
optical systems (Nazarathy,1982; Shamir, 1999; Yura, 1987) and initially
was conceived as a tool for geometrical optics (Gerrard, 1975) but is also
useful in analyzing problems related to light propagation and simplifying
complex integral calculations (Kloos, 2007). In particular, the ABCD ray
transfer formalism has been applied to analyze FRFT optical systems
(Bernardo, 1996). In this chapter, we present a full, self-consistent deriva-
tion of the properties leading to FRFT optical systems, based on the use of
the ABCD ray transfer matrix, and its applications to analyze a variety of
both basic and advanced FRFT systems. Following our previous studies
(Moreno, 2006b, 2007), we relate the FRFT properties of these optical
systems with concepts characteristic of geometrical optics—for instance
the location of the cardinal planes.
2. THE ABCD RAY TRANSFER MATRIX METHOD
The ray transfer matrix method (Gerrard, 1975; Kloos, 2007) is a useful
method for tracing paraxial rays. We consider rotationally symmetric
optical systems under the paraxial approximation. In this case, the
properties of an optical system can be evaluated considering a planar
geometry as indicated in Figure 1. Rays are considered to travel close to
the optical axis (z-axis in Figure 1), and a ray crossing a traverse plane
(constant z) is described with two components—the height x(z) and the
angle s(z)—at which it crosses this plane.
The optical system is regarded as a set of optical components placed
between two traverse planes, located at z ¼ z1 and z ¼ z2, respectively. The
paraxial approximation applies to the ray that travels close to the z-axis
and, therefore s follows the small-angle approximation and can be con-
sidered as the slope of the ray, s ¼ dx/dz. For simplicity, we consider this
one-dimensional geometry (x-z), since it is directly applicable to usual
z = z1 z = z2
x
s1 x1 Optical z
y system
x2
Input ray s2
Output ray
FIGURE 1 Representation of a first-order optical system by means of a ray transfer

matrix.
lens systems because of their circular symmetry around the optical axis.
In addition, it also applies to anamorphic systems that can be factorized
into horizontal and vertical components.
The optical system changes the position and the angle of the ray.
An input ray with coordinates (x1, s1) at the input plane is changed to
an output ray with coordinates (x2, s2) at the output plane. In the paraxial
approximation, the relations among these coordinates are linear and they
can generally be written in the form
x2 ¼ Ax1 þ Bs1 ; (3.1a)
s2 ¼ Cx1 þ Ds1 ; (3.1b)
where A, B, C, and D are real numbers. These relations can be written in
the form of a 2 2 ray transfer matrix M, as follows:

x2 x1 A B x
¼M ¼ 1 : (3.2)
s2 s1 C D s1
Throughout this chapter we consider optical systems in air, where the
initial and end media are equal. In this situation, the determinant of the
ray transfer matrix is unity (Gerrard, 1975), that is,
detðMÞ ¼ AD BC ¼ 1: (3.3)
2.1. Physical Meaning of the ABCD Elements

Some important physical properties of the optical system are obtained
when any of the ABCD elements of the ray transfer matrix vanish. For
instance, Figure 2 shows the cases A ¼ 0 and D ¼ 0, respectively. When
A ¼ 0 (Figure 2a), the characteristic feature of the optical system is that
parallel rays at the input plane are focused on a single point on the output
plane, which therefore defines the rear or image focal plane (F0 ) of the optical
system. All rays entering the system with the same angle, s1, leave the
(a) (b)
Rear focal Front focal
plane
Optical plane Optical
system z system z
A=0 D=0
F⬘ F
Front focal s2
s1 Optical plane Optical
system x2 z system z
Rear focal x1
A=0 D=0
plane
F⬘ F
FIGURE 2 Representation of optical system with ray transfer matrices characterized by

(a) A ¼ 0, (b) D ¼ 0.
system with the same height, x2 ¼ Bs1. When s1 ¼ 0, input rays are
parallel to the optical axis (z) and they focus on axis (x2 ¼ 0).
Figure 2b shows the case corresponding to D ¼ 0. Now, a point source
at the input plane is converted into a set of parallel rays at the output
plane. Therefore, the input plane is the front or object focal plane (F). The
height (x1) of the point source determines the angular direction of the rays
leaving the system as s2 ¼ Cx1, and therefore a point source located on
axis (s2 ¼ 0) produces a collimated beam with rays parallel to the optical
axis.
When C ¼ 0, parallel rays at the input plane (constant s1) remain
parallel rays at the output plane (constant s2). In particular, input rays
parallel to the optical axis remain parallel at the exit (s1 ¼ s2 ¼ 0); then the
optical system is said to be afocal or telescopic (Figure 3a). On the contrary,
when C 6¼ 0, the system is said to be focal, because parallel rays at the input
plane are focused onto a plane located at distance d ¼ A/C from the
output plane (Figure 3b). The C parameter in the ray transfer matrix
represents the optical power (P ¼ –C) of the optical system, while the
focal length of the system is defined as f 0 ¼ –1/C.
An especially relevant situation is the imaging condition, which is
obtained when B ¼ 0. In this situation, any point source at the input
plane focuses at a corresponding point in the output plane, regardless of
the input angle (Figure 3c). Therefore, output and input planes are conju-
gated planes. Two other parameters of the ray transfer matrix adopt in
this case a relevant geometric physical meaning: Parameter A becomes
the lateral magnification (mx x2/x1), while parameter D becomes the
angular magnification (ms s2/s1 on axis):
(a) (c)
Optical Optical
system z system s2 z
s1
C=0 B=0
(b) Rear focal

Optical plane Optical
system z system x2 z
C 0 x1 B=0
FIGURE 3 Representation of optical system with ray transfer matrices characterized by

(a) C ¼ 0, (b) C 6¼ 0, and (c) B ¼ 0.

x2 s2
mx ¼ AjB¼0 ; ms ¼ DjB¼0;x2 ¼0 : (3.4)
x1 B¼0 s1 B¼0;x2 ¼0
Therefore, the ray transfer matrix of an imaging system (MIMAG) can
be expressed as

mx 0
MIMAG ¼ : (3.5)
P ms
Using the determinant property in Eq. (3.3), det(MIMAG) ¼ 1, the
inverse relation between the lateral and angular magnifications is directly
derived as follows:
1
ms ¼ : (3.6)
mx
Thus, imaging optical systems in air are characterized by a ray transfer
matrix in the form
0 1
m 0
B C
MIMAG ¼ @ 1 1 A: (3.7)
0
f m
2.2. Basic Optical Components and Ray Transfer Matrices

The derivation of the ray transfer matrices of basic optical components
can be found in numerous texts (Gerrard, 1975; Saleh, 1991; Kloos, 2007).
Here we briefly summarize some of the components shown in Figure 4:
free-space propagation, refraction at a planar and at a spherical boundary,
and reflection from a spherical mirror.
(a) (b)
s2 = s1
} x1
s1
} x2
z
s1
}
s2
x2 = x1
z
d n1 n2
z = z1 z = z2
(c) (d)
s1 s2 s2
} x2 = x1 s1
}x =x
2 1
R z z
R
z1 z2
n1 n2
FIGURE 4 Ray transformation at some basic optical components. (a) Free propagation;
(b) planar reflection; (c) spherical refraction; (d) spherical mirror.
Since rays travel in free space along straight lines, free-space propaga-
tion of a distance d transforms the ray coordinates as x2 ¼ x1 þ s1 d and
s2 ¼ s1 (Figure 4a). Thus, the ray transfer matrix (MFP) of the free-space
propagation is

1 d
MFP ðdÞ ¼ : (3.8)
0 1
The ray transformation in a planar refraction between two media with
refractive indices n1 and n2 is governed by Snell’s law, n2sins2 ¼ n1sins1,
which under paraxial approximation can be written as n2s2 ¼ n1s1. It is
thus described by the ray transfer matrix MR given by
0 1
1 0
n1 B C
MR ; R ! 1 ¼ @ 0 n 1 A: (3.9)
n2 n2
This is just a particular case of the spherical refraction (spherical

diopter), which follows the well-known diopter equation:
n1 n1 n2 n1
þ ¼ ; (3.10)
z1 z2 R
where z1 and z2 now denote the coordinates of the object and image
conjugated points, and R denotes the radius of the spherical boundary
between the two media. Distances are referred to the boundary plane
(Figure 4c). In the point where the ray refraction is considered, the height
is maintained constant x2 ¼ x1 while the angular coordinate is transformed
according to
n1 n2 n1
s2 ¼ s1 x1 ; (3.11)
n2 n2 R
thus giving a ray transfer matrix:
0 1
1 0
n1 B n1 C
MR ; R ¼ @ n1 n2 A: (3.12)
n2 n2 R n2
Finally, the ray transfer matrix corresponding to a spherical mirror is

given by
0 1
1 0
B C
MSM ðRÞ ¼ @ 2 1 A; (3.13)
R
where we adopted the sign convention in Saleh (1991), where the z axis
follows the general direction of the rays.
2.3. Cardinal Elements of the Optical System

The cardinal planes of the optical system can be easily identified from its
ABCD ray transfer matrix. Let us consider a generic system characterized
by a general matrix MS ¼ {ABCD} like that in Eq. (3.2). Let us calculate the
location of the focal, principal, and anti-principal planes. For simplicity
we consider again systems in air, so the principal and the nodal planes
coincide, and det(MS) ¼ 1.
For that purpose we follow, for instance, Kloos (2007) and calculate the
generic matrix obtained by adding free propagations in front of and
behind the optical system, of distances d and d0 , respectively (we use
subindices H, F, and A to denote the distances referring to the principal,
focal, and anti-principal planes, as indicated in Figure 5). This simple
calculation leads to the following matrix:

1 d0 A B 1 d
MFP ðd0 ÞMS MFP ðdÞ ¼
0 1 C D 0 1
(3.14)
A þ Cd0 B þ Ad þ Dd0 þ Cdd0
¼ :
C D þ Cd
A F H H⬘ F⬘ A⬘
ABCD
system z
f f dH d⬘H f⬘ f⬘
dF d⬘F
dA d⬘A
FIGURE 5 Representation of the cardinal planes of a generic optical ABCD system.
This matrix shows a first property: Adding free propagations on either

side of the ray transfer matrix does not change the parameter C in the
resultant matrix and therefore the optical power P is conserved.
Next we use the matrix in Eq. (3.14) in conjunction with the properties
in Section 2.1 to locate the cardinal planes.
2.3.1. Principal Planes

The principal planes are those conjugated planes with unity magnification.
Therefore, we now must impose the condition that the diagonal elements
in the matrix in Eq. (3.14) are both equal to 1, which leads to the two
following relations for the corresponding distances dH and d0H:
1D 1A
dH ¼ ; d0H ¼ : (3.15)
C C
Introducing these distances on the element B on the matrix in Eq. (3.13)
directly leads to a null value, demonstrating the imaging condition
between these two planes:
B þ AdH þ Dd0H þ CdH d0H ¼ 0; (3.16)
where determinant property AD – BC ¼ 1 is used.
2.3.2. Focal Planes

The rear focal plane (F0 ) is the plane where parallel rays converge, while
the front focal planes is the plane where a point source must be located to
produce parallel rays at the output. Following the discussion in Section 2.1,
the propagation from F to F0 must have a ray transfer matrix with null
diagonal elements. Applying this condition to the matrix in Eq. (3.14)
leads to the following distances: dF (from the front focal plane to the input
plane of the system) and dF0 (from the output plane to the rear focal plane):
D A
dF ¼ ; d0F ¼ : (3.17)
C C
The focal distances of the system are usually defined with the origin at
the principal planes and the end at the focal plane; that is, the front focal
distance is f ¼ HF and the rear focal distance is f 0 ¼ H0 F0 . Using Eqs. (3.15)

and (3.16), their magnitude can be derived directly as the inverse of the
optical power:
1 1
f ¼ d H dF ¼ ; f 0 ¼ d0F d0H ¼ ; (3.18)
C C
which shows that they are equal with opposite sign:
f 0 ¼ f : (3.19)
2.3.3. Anti-Principal Planes

The anti-principal planes are used less often than the principal planes.
However, they are important in analyzing the FRFT optical lens systems.
They are defined as the conjugated planes with –1 magnification: They are
like the principal planes but with an image inversion relation. Therefore,
the diagonal elements in the matrix in Eq. (3.14) must be both equal to –1,
leading to the two following relations:
1 D 0 1 A
dA ¼ ; dA ¼ : (3.20)
C C
Let us note that, as was the case in the principal planes, introducing
these expressions in the B element of the matrix in Eq. (3.14) automatically
leads to a null value, demonstrating the imaging condition. Finally, we
also note that the anti-principal planes are symmetrical to the principal
planes with respect to the focal planes: The distance from F0 to A0 is
equal to f 0 , and the distance from F to A is equal to f, as can be easily
demonstrated from Eqs. (3.17) and (3.20).
We finish this section by writing the explicit expressions for the prop-
agation between the front and the rear cardinal planes because, as shown
later, they play a relevant role in imaging, Fourier transform, and FRFT
systems. The propagation from the front principal plane (H) to rear
principal plane (H0 ) is characterized by the ray transfer matrix:
0 1
1 0
B C
MHH0 ¼ @ 1 1 A; (3.21)
f0
while the propagation from the front focal plane (F) to rear principal plane
(F0 ) is characterized by the matrix:
0 1
0 f0
B C
MFF0 ¼ @ 1 :
0 0A
(3.22)
f
Finally, the propagation from the front antiprincipal plane (A) to the
rear antiprincipal plane (A0 ) is characterized by
0 1
1 0
B 1 C
MAA0 ¼ @ 1 A: (3.23)
f0
2.4. Lenses and Imaging

The glass lens is built as two spherical surfaces separating air from a
medium with refractive index n. Let us consider t as the thickness of the
lens at the optical axis (Figure 6). The ray transfer matrix of the thick lens
(ML) can be calculated by multiplying two spherical refractions and a
propagation inside the glass lens:
0 1
1
ML ðR1 ; R2 ; n; tÞ ¼ MR ðn; R2 Þ MFP ðtÞ MR @ ; R1 A
n
0 1
ðn 1Þt t
B 1 C
B nR1 n C
B 0 1 C
¼B C:
B 1 1 ð n 1 Þ 2
ðn 1 Þt C
@ ðn 1Þ@ A t 1þ A
R2 R1 nR1 R2 nR2
(3.24)
The parameter C in this matrix directly gives the thick lens optical
power and the focal length as follows:

1 1 1 ð n 1Þ 2
P ¼ 0 ¼ ðn 1Þ þt : (3.25)
f R1 R2 nR1 R2
R1 R2
n
dA d⬘A
dF dH d⬘H d⬘F
n=1 n=1
FIGURE 6 Scheme for building a lens.

The direct application of Eqs. (3.15), (3.16), and (3.20) reveals that the
principal, focal, and anti-principal planes of the lens are located at dis-
tances from the lens surfaces given by
ðn 1Þt ðn 1Þt
dH ¼ f 0 ; d0H ¼ f 0 (3.26)
nR2 nR1

0 ðn 1Þt 0 0 ðn 1Þt
dF ¼ f 1 þ ; dF ¼ f 1 ; (3.27)
nR2 nR1

ðn 1Þt ðn 1Þt
dA ¼ f 0 2 þ ; d0A ¼ f 0 2 : (3.28)
nR2 nR1
The thin lens approximation is obtained in the limit t ! 0, thus leading
to the following expressions for the ray transfer matrix and its focal
length:
0 1
1 0
B C
MTL ð f Þ ¼ @ 1 1 A; (3.29)
f0

1 1 1
P ¼ 0 ¼ ð n 1Þ : (3.30)
f R2 R1
The location of the cardinal planes [Eqs. (3.26)–(3.28)] reveals that
the principal, focal, and anti-principal planes are located, respectively,
on the lens plane and at distances f 0 and 2f 0 from the thin lens plane; that is,
dH ¼ d0H ¼ 0; (3.31)
dF ¼ d0F ¼ f 0 ; (3.32)
dA ¼ d0A ¼ 2f 0 : (3.33)
Of note, as expected, the ray transfer matrix of the lens in the thin lens
approximation (Eq. (3.29) adopts exactly the same form as the propagation
between principal planes [Eq. (3.21)]. This indicates that the thin lens con-
cept plays a relevant role not only as an approximation for the real lens, but
also because any optical system can be regarded as an equivalent thin lens
when the principal planes are considered as the origin for distances.
As indicated in Section 2.1, the imaging condition is obtained whenever
the ray transfer matrix of the optical system fulfils the condition B ¼ 0.
Depending on the planes selected as the reference for the distances, the
imaging condition adopts different expressions. Figure 7 shows the two
most useful cases, which consider either the principal planes (thus leading
to the Gaussian imaging law) or the focal planes (thus leading to the Newto-
nian imaging law). Here O and O0 denote the object and image plane loca-
tions, and the figure shows the ray tracing between these two conjugated
planes.
(a)
O F H H⬘ F⬘ O⬘
z f⬘ f⬘ z⬘
a a⬘
(b)
z = f⬘ f⬘ f⬘ z⬘ = f⬘
a = 2f⬘ a⬘ = 2f⬘
FIGURE 7 Ray tracing for (a) a general imaging system, (b) propagation between
anti-principal planes.
The Gaussian imaging law is obtained by referring the distances to the

principal planes H and H0 —that is, it considers the distances a ¼ OH and
a0 ¼ H0 O0 . The matrix multiplication sequence for the propagation from
the object plane to the image planes is given by
0 1
1 0
0 1 a0 B 1 C 1 a
MFP ða ÞMHH0 MFP ðaÞ ¼ @ 1A 0 1
0 1 f0
0 1
a0 aa0
1 0 a þ a0 0
B f f C
B C
¼B :
a C
(3.34)
@ 1 A
0 1 0
f f
Therefore, the imaging condition (B ¼ 0) is fulfilled provided the

distances a and a0 follow the well-known Gaussian law:
1 1 1
þ ¼ ; (3.35)
a a0 f 0
and the magnification m is directly obtained from Eq. (3.4) through the A
parameter as
a0 a0
m¼1 ¼ : (3.36)
f0 a
An alternative expression for the imaging condition is the Newtonian
law, where distances are referred to the focal planes F and F0 . Let us define
now the distances z ¼ OF and z0 ¼ F0 O0 . Now, the matrix multiplication

sequence for the propagation from the object plane to the image plane
through the focal planes is given by the following:
0 1
0 f0
1 z0 B C 1 z
MFP ðz0 ÞMFF0 MFP ðzÞ ¼ @ 1
0 0 A
0 1 0 1
f
0 1
z0 zz0
0 0 þ f0
B f f C
B C
¼B :
z C
(3.37)
@ 1 A
0 0
f f
Therefore, the imaging condition (B ¼ 0) directly leads to the well-

known Newtonian law:
zz0 ¼ þðf 0 Þ ;
2
(3.38)
and the magnification is given by

z0 f0
m¼ ¼ : (3.39)
f0 z
We note that different sign conventions exist in the literature, depend-
ing on the selected origin of the defined distances, which lead to different
versions of Eqs. (3.35) and (3.36) and Eqs. (3.38) and (3.39) with possible
sign changes.
The propagation between anti-principal planes is a particular case of
the imaging condition, where z ¼ z0 ¼ f 0 and a ¼ a0 ¼2f 0 (Figure 7b).
2.5. Self-Focusing Graded Index Ducts

We also consider the case of a self-focusing graded index (selfoc grin)
medium (Saleh, 1991), also known as a duct (Siegman, 1986), defined as a
dielectric medium characterized by a quadratic transverse variation in its
refractive index in the form
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
nðxÞ ¼ n0 1 o2 x2 ; (3.40)
with n0 the refractive index on axis (x ¼ 0). The ray trajectories x(z) inside
the selfoc grin medium are sinusoidal, with o the angular frequency of
oscillation. The derivation of the ray transfer matrix describing the selfoc
grin medium can be found in various texts, as for instance those by
Gerrard (1975), Siegman (1986), and Saleh (1991); it is denoted by the
following expression:
0 1 1
cosðoLÞ sinðoLÞ
MGRIN ¼ @ o A; (3.41)
o sinðoLÞ cosðoLÞ
where L is the propagation length along the grin medium. Because the
grin media are used later in dealing with the FRFT, they are analyzed here
in detail.
The distance Lp ¼ 2p/o is defined as the pitch, which is the distance
corresponding to a complete oscillation of the rays. Depending on the
length L, a grin lens has different properties, which are summarized in
Figure 8. The quarter-pitch grin lens is characterized by a length L ¼ Lp/4
and the corresponding ray matrix adopts the form
0 1
1
1 0
MGRIN L ¼ Lp ¼ @ o A; (3.42)
4
o 0
that is, it adopts the form of the propagation between focal planes
[Eq. (3.22)] with o ¼ 1/f 0 . Rays describe a quarter oscillation and therefore
parallel rays are focused onto a point, while a point source is transformed
into a set of parallel rays (Figure 8a).
The half-pitch grin lens (L ¼ Lp/2) has a ray matrix MGRIN(L ¼ Lp/2) ¼ –1
where 1 denotes the identity matrix. Because B ¼ C ¼ 0, the grin lens
performs imaging between the input and output planes while simulta-
neously acting as a telescopic system. The minus sign indicates the inver-
sion produced in the output coordinates with respect to the input ones
(Figure 7b). Therefore, this case represents a particular case of a
(a)
Quarter pitch grin lens
(b)
Half pitch grin lens
z
(c) Full pitch grin lens

z
FIGURE 8 Some ray trajectories in selfoc grin lenses with (a) quarter-pitch,
(b) half-pitch and (c) full-pitch lengths.
propagation between anti-principal planes [Eq. (3.23)] but in a system

with an infinite focal length.
A similar situation occurs for the full-pitch grin lens (L ¼ Lp), character-
ized by an identity ray matrix MGRIN(L ¼ Lp) ¼ 1. In this case, there is no sign
inversion (Figure 8c), and the grin lens can be regarded as a propagation
between principal planes [Eq. (3.21)], again with an infinite focal length.
3. EXTENSION TO ANAMORPHIC OPTICAL SYSTEMS

All these concepts can be extended to anamorphic optical systems, where
the actuation onto orthogonal directions is different. The key building
components of anamorphic systems are the anamorphic lenses, which can
be refractive (Szoplik, 1984), diffractive (Collados, 2005), or even pro-
grammable lenses by means of spatial light modulators (Davis, 1992).
The ray transfer matrix methods presented above can be extended to
general anamorphic systems by means of extended 4 4 ray matrices.
However, when the action in x and y coordinates is different but indepen-
dent, the anamorphic system can be described with two independent
standard 2 2 ray matrices, one describing the action in the x direction
and one describing the action in the y direction. Only when the action in
x-y coordinates is not independent is a 4 4 matrix formalism required
(Siegman, 1986). In this case, the ray coordinates are described using a
four-component column vector: the height x and the angle sx at which the
ray crosses a plane in the horizontal direction, and equivalent parameters
in the vertical direction, y and sy, respectively. This order of the coordi-
nates leads to 4 4 ray matrices, such as those proposed by Arsenault
(1980) and Macukow (1983). An alternative ordering was introduced by
Siegman and others (Kloos, 2007; Siegman, 1986), where the first and third
components are the heights in the x and y directions, and the second and
fourth components refer to the angles. We adopt this case here. The
connection between input and output ray coordinates—the extension of
Eq. (3.1)—is provided through a 4 4 matrix M ^ as
0 1 0 1
x2 x1
B s2x C B s1x C
B C ^ B C
@ y2 A ¼ M @ y1 A: (3.43)
s2y s1y
We add the (hat) to indicate that matrices are 4 4.
When the action of the anamorphic system is independent in the x
and y directions, the 4 4 ray matrix of the system can be written as

M^ ¼ Mx 0 : (3.44)
0 My
where Mx and My are the standard 2 2 ray matrices corresponding to the

systems in the x and y directions, and 0 represents a null 2 2 matrix
defined as

0 0
0 : (3.45)
0 0
We also use the 2 2 identity matrix,

1 0
1 ; (3.46)
0 1
to simplify 4 4 matrices of anamorphic systems.

Therefore, when the 4 4 ray transfer matrix adopts the form of
Eq. (3.44), the action of the anamorphic optical system is independent in
x and y components and the system can be described simply by the two 2 2
submatrices, Mx and My, in the diagonal. For instance, it is straightforward
to derive the matrix for a free propagation in a homogeneous medium,
which takes the following form for a 4 4 generalized matrix:

^ FP ðdÞ ¼ MFP ðdÞ
M
0
: (3.47)
0 MFP ðdÞ
Now the four components in the matrix in Eq. (3.47) are 2 2 matrices
given in Eq. (3.8) and Eq. (3.45), respectively.
Figure 9a shows an anamorphic thin lens, with different focal lengths
f 0 x and f 0 y along the x and y directions. Again, since the action in the x and
y directions is independent, the anti-diagonal submatrices vanish and the
4 4 ray matrix is given by
!
MTL f 0x 0
M^ TL;xy f ; f ¼
0 0
: (3.48)
x y
0 MTL f 0y
Cylindrical lenses are particular cases of anamorphic lenses when

there is no curvature in the x or y direction. The corresponding ray
matrices are
0

^ TL;xy ð f 0 ; 1Þ ¼ MTL ð f Þ 0 M
M ^ CL;0 ð f 0 Þ; (3.49a)
0 1

^ 0 1 0 ^ CL;90 ð f 0 Þ;
MTL;xy ð1; f Þ ¼ M (3.49b)
0 MTL ð f 0 Þ
where we use the notation M ^ CL;a ð f 0 Þ to denote a cylindrical lens, with

a the relative angle between the direction of the lens curvature and the
x direction. The anamorphic lens described in Figure 9a and Eq. (3.48) can
be regarded as the composition of two cylindrical lenses as follows:
(a) (b)
y y
x x a x
z z
(c) f⬘B f⬘a

y
x a x
FIGURE 9 (a) Anamorphic lens composed of an orthogonal cylindrical doublet, with

different curvatures along the x and y directions. (b) Cylindrical lens with arbitrary
orientation. (c) Cylindrical nonorthogonal doublet.

^ TL;xy f 0 ; f 0 ¼ M
M ^ CL;90 f 0 M
^ CL;0 f 0 : (3.50)
x y y x
The simplest example that is not x-y independent is a cylindrical lens

with an arbitrary orientation a (Figure 9b). In this case, the same lens
affects both the x and y directions and the ray matrix is obtained by an
in-plane rotation of the cylindrical lens given by
^ ðaÞ M
^ CL;a ðf 0 Þ ¼ R
M ^ CL;0 ð f 0 Þ R
^ ðþaÞ; (3.51)
where M^ CL;0 ð f 0 Þ is the ray matrix in Eq. (3.49a), and R^ ðaÞ is a rotation-type
4 4 matrix defined as

^ ð aÞ cosðaÞ 1 sinðaÞ 1
R : (3.52)
sinðaÞ 1 cosðaÞ 1
Note that this is a 4 4 matrix since the sine and cosine terms multiply
the 2 2 identity matrix 1 in Eq. (3.46). The result of the matrix multiplica-
tion in Eq. (3.51) leads to the following ray matrix:
0 1
1 0 0 0
B 1 cos2 ðaÞ 1
1 0 sinðaÞ cosðaÞ 0 C
B 0 C
B f f C
^ 0 B
MCL;a ð f Þ ¼ B C: (3.53)
0 0 1 0 C
B 1 1 C
@ sinðaÞ cosðaÞ 0 sin 2
ð a Þ 1 A
f0 f0
Note that now the off-diagonal 2 2 matrices do not vanish, indicating

that the action of the cylindrical lens with arbitrary orientation is not x-y
independent. For a ¼ 0 and a ¼ 90 , the ray matrices in Eqs. (3.49a) and
(3.49b) are recovered.
Figure 9c shows an important anamorphic element to build anamorphic
optical processors: the nonorthogonal doublet. The variation of the relative
angle a between the directions of curvature of the two cylindrical lenses
allows continuous changing of the properties of the optical processor built
with these lenses. An important property was noted by Macukow and
Arsenault (1983): The nonorthogonal doublet can be interpreted as a com-
bination of an orthogonal doublet with appropriate orientation and focal
lengths. Let us consider that the first cylindrical lens has focal length f 0a and
is active along the x direction. The second cylindrical lens has focal length
f 0b and it is active along a direction with an angle a with respect to the x-axis
(we consider a in the range from 0 to 90 ). The 4 4 ray matrix describing
this nonorthogonal doublet is given by the following matrix product:

^ ¼R
M ^ ðaÞ M ^ ðþaÞ M
^ CL;0 f 0 R ^ CL;0 f 0 ; (3.54)
b a
where matrices R ^ and M ^ CL;0 are given by Eq. (3.52) and Eq. (3.49a), respec-
tively. The result of this multiplication is
0 1
1 0 0 0
B 1 cos ðaÞ2
sina cosa C
B 0 1 0C
B fa f 0 f 0 C
^ ¼B B
b b C
:
M
B 0 0 1 0CC
(3.55)
B sin ðaÞ
2 C
@ sina cosa 0 1A
f 0b f 0b
In general, the off-diagonal submatrices are nonzero, showing that the

x and y directions are not independent. This nonorthogonal doublet is
equivalent to a virtual orthogonal doublet rotated with respect to the
coordinate system (Macukow, 1983). The focal lengths f 0x and f 0y and
orientation j of the equivalent orthogonal doublet in terms of the real
nonorthogonal doublet are denoted as
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
1 1 1 1 1 1 2 cosð2aÞ
¼ þ þ þ þ (3.56a)
f 0x 2f 0a 2f 0b 2 f 0a f 0b f 0a f 0b
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
1 1 1 1 1 1 2 cosð2aÞ
¼ 0þ 0 þ 0 þ (3.56b)
0 0
f y 2f a 2f b 2 f a f b f 0a f 0b
and
f 0a sinð2aÞ
tanð2’Þ ¼ (3.57)
f 0b þ f 0a cosð2aÞ:
The focal lengths of the equivalent orthogonal doublet range from f 0a

and f 0b when the cylindrical lenses are orthogonal (a ¼ 90 ) to infinite and
f 0a f 0b/( f 0a þ f 0b) when they are parallel (a ¼ 0).
When the two cylindrical lenses have equal focal length, f 0a ¼ f 0b ¼ f 0 ,
these previous equations reduce to
1 1 þ cosa 1 1 cosa
¼ ; ¼ (3.58)
f 0x f0 f 0y f0
and
sinð2aÞ
tanð2’Þ ¼ ¼ tanðaÞ: (3.59)
1 þ cosð2aÞ
In this situation, the rotation angle of the equivalent orthogonal doublet
is denoted as j ¼ a/2. The optical power is doubled in the x direction when
the two lenses are parallel, and is zero in the y direction. When the two
lenses are orthogonal (a ¼ 90 ), the focal length is equal to f 0 in both
directions. Thus, rotating the relative angle a between the cylindrical lenses
allows tuning of the two focal lengths of the equivalent orthogonal doublet.
4. WAVE OPTICS PROPERTIES OF GEOMETRICAL SYSTEMS:

FOURIER TRANSFORM SYSTEMS
The presented ray transfer matrix formalism is used in many texts to

study geometrical optics. However, it can also be used to analyze Fourier
transform optical systems, which are usually treated using diffraction
integrals. The mathematical simplicity of ray transfer matrices compared
with diffraction integrals makes them especially useful for this purpose,
which is our next subject.
4.1. Connection between Wave and Ray Optics Formalisms

The connection between ray and wave optics is given by the correspon-
dence between a set of rays and the corresponding wave front, which is
perpendicular to the ray direction (Davis, 1993; Jutamulia, 2002).
Figure 10 illustrates this connection. We consider a monochromatic illu-
mination with wavelength l. A set of tilted parallel rays is equivalent to a
tilted plane wave front: a linear phase in the plane z ¼ z0 along the x-axis
(Figure 10a). The wave front at the plane z ¼ z0 is described as the function
g(r) ¼ exp[j2px/p], where r ¼ (x,y) denotes the point at the plane perpen-
dicular to the optical axis, and the period p is fixed by the angle s. Points L
and M in Figure 10a are in phase (2p phase difference) if the distance MN
is equal to the wavelength of the optical radiation. Then, assuming the
paraxial approximation, the period p is equal to the fraction l/s, and it is
(a) (b)
x f⬘
L s
s z
N
l
M
z
z = z0
FIGURE 10 Rays (continuous lines) and wave fronts (dotted lines). (a) A set of
parallel rays is equivalent to a linear phase in the plane x–z. (b) The effect of a lens is
to introduce a quadratic phase factor.
directly concluded that the set of parallel rays crossing the plane z ¼ z0
with angle s is equivalent to a phase distribution g(r) given by
h xsi
gðrÞ ¼ exp j2p : (3.60)
l
In addition, the action of a lens transforms a plane wave into a spheri-
cal wave whose center is in its rear focal point (Figure 10b). It is well
known that the transmittance tl(r) of a lens of focal length f 0 is a quadratic
phase factor (Goodman, 1996) given by

pr2
tl ðrÞ ¼ exp j 0 ; (3.61)
lf
where r ¼j r j is the radial distance from the optical axis. Equations (3.60)
and (3.61) provide simple relations useful to link ray and wave optics in
order to connect ray transfer matrices to Fourier optics. In particular, a ray
matrix in the form of a thin lens [Eq. (3.29)] can be directly interpreted as a
quadratic phase factor in the form of the term in Eq. (3.61), which multi-
plies the incoming wave front.
4.2. Exact Fourier Transform Optical System

Next we examine the conditions on the ray matrix that lead to an optical
Fourier transform system. It is convenient to consider the explicit equa-
tions in the form of Eq. (3.1) and the two following properties of the
generalized Fourier transform (Bracewell, 1986):
1. The Fourier transform of a delta function is a linear phase in the
frequency space:
FTfdðx aÞg ¼ exp½j 2pau: (3.62a)
2. The Fourier transform of a linear phase is a delta function in the
frequency space:
FTf exp½ j2pxag ¼ dðu aÞ: (3.62b)
Here a is a constant value, u the spatial frequency, and FT denotes the

one-dimensional Fourier transform operation, defined as
ð
þ1
GðuÞ ¼ FTfgðxÞg ¼ gðxÞ exp½j2pxudx: (3.63)

1
In terms of optical radiation the delta function is equivalent to a point

source, while the linear phase corresponds to a tilted set of parallel rays.
Consequently, the first condition [Eq. (3.62a)] states that a point in the
input plane leads to a constant angle in the output plane and is satisfied
if the ray matrix of the optical system fulfills the condition D ¼ 0
(see Section 2.1) The second condition [Eq. (3.62b)] states that a constant
angle in the input plane leads to a point in the output plane and is
satisfied by having the matrix element A ¼ 0.
Therefore, a Fourier transform optical system is characterized by a ray
transfer matrix with parameters A ¼ D ¼ 0; that is, an exact Fourier
transform relation exists between the field at the front focal plane and
its propagation to the rear focal plane of the optical system. The ray
transfer matrix of an exact Fourier transform optical system is thus
given as

0 f0
MFT ¼ : (3.64)
1=f 0 0
In other words, every optical system performs an exact Fourier trans-
form between its focal planes F and F0 . In this situation, plane waves at the
input plane are focused on the output plane, and point sources at the
input plane lead to plane waves at the output.
4.3. Scale of the Optical Fourier Transform

The scale of the optical Fourier transform also can be easily derived from
the matrix in Eq. (3.64). Let us consider a displaced point source at the
input (Figure 11). The corresponding wave front at the input plane can
be written as g1(x1) ¼ d(x1 – a). The same situation analyzed from the
geometrical optics point of view considers input rays with fixed location
x1 ¼ a and variable angle s1. The output rays are thus given by
0
x2 0 f0 a f s1
¼ ¼ : (3.65)
s2 1=f 0 0 s1 a=f 0
F⬘
Front focal s2 = –a/f ⬘
plane FT optical
system z
{ x1 = a
A=D=0
Rear focal
F plane
FIGURE 11 Relation between the location of a point source in the input plane and the
angle of the plane wave at the output plane, useful for obtaining the scaling relation.
The output angle s2 is constant equal to –a/f 0 , and therefore they are all
parallel rays. The equivalent phase distribution at the plane z ¼ z2 is
given, from Eq. (3.60), by
h

x2 s2 i x2 a
g2 ðx2 Þ ¼ exp j2p ¼ exp j2p 0 : (3.66)
l lf
The comparison of Eqs. (3.66) and (3.62a) leads to the relation between
the spatial frequency u of the input signal and the spatial coordinate x2 at
the plane z ¼ z2,
x2
u¼ 0: (3.67)
lf
This equation indicates the size of the optical Fourier transform
through the relation between the spatial coordinate x2 at the output
plane and the spatial frequency u of the function introduced at the input
plane.
We finish this subsection by explicitly writing the two-dimensional
Fourier transform link between the wave front amplitudes, g(r1) and g(r2),
at the input and output planes respectively. Now ri ¼ (xi, yi), with i ¼ 1, 2,
and ri ¼ jrij, and the two-dimensional Fourier transform link, except for a
constant factor, can be expressed as follows:
ð
þ1
g2 ðr2 Þ ¼ GðuÞju¼ r20 ¼ FTfg1 ðr1 Þg ¼ gðr1 Þ exp½j2prudr; (3.68)

lf
1
where u ¼( ux, uy) is a vector in the spatial frequency domain, with ux and
uy as the spatial frequencies in the x and y directions, which are related to
the spatial coordinates of the output plane as
x2 y2
ux ¼ 0 ; u y ¼ 0 : (3.69)
lf lf
4.4. Basic Fourier Transform Optical Lens Systems

Figure 12 shows two basic optical systems that fulfill the Fourier trans-
form matrix in Eq. (3.64). The first one is the classical 2f optical system that
performs the Fourier transform between the front and rear focal planes of
a converging lens. The second one consists of two converging lenses with
identical focal length f 0 , separated a distance d¼f 0 . Both systems perform
a Fourier transform between the input plane P1 and the output plane P2
(Goodman, 1996). In both cases, the ray matrix corresponding to the
propagation between planes P1 and P2 adopts the form of Eq. (3.61).
Figure 12 explicitly shows the trajectories of some rays, illustrating the
Fourier transformation between a point and a plane wave.
A third simple example involves the quarter-pitch grin lens in Figure 8a.
Its ray matrix [Eq. (3.42)] also adopts the form of Eq. (3.64) with f 0 ¼ 1/o.
In fact, Figure 8a already showed some ray trajectories—the conversion
between parallel rays into point sources and vice versa—that happen in
exact Fourier transform systems.
(a)
P1 P2
f⬘
d1 = f⬘ d2 = f ⬘
P1 P2
(b) f⬘ f⬘
d = f⬘
FIGURE 12 Two basic lens systems that perform an exact Fourier transform between
planes P1 and P2.
4.5. Ray Transfer Matrix Factorizations

Different factorizations of the ABCD ray transfer matrix are useful in
analyzing optical systems (Arsenault, 1983). Let us consider a general
matrix in the form of Eq. (3.2), as usual with det(M) ¼ 1. The following
four decompositions related to canonical transformations can be easily
probed (Nazarathy, 1982; Yura, 1987):
If A 6¼ 0:

A B 1 0 A 0 1 B=A
¼ : (3.70)
C D C=A 1 0 1=A 0 1
If B 6¼ 0:

A B 1 0 0 B 1 0
¼ : (3.71)
C D D=B 1 1=B 0 A=B 1
If C 6¼ 0:

A B 1 A=C 0 1=C 1 D=C
¼ : (3.72)
C D 0 1 C 0 0 1
If D 6¼ 0:

A B 1 B=D 1=D 0 1 0
¼ : (3.73)
C D 0 1 0 D C=D 1
Next we use the two first relations to physically analyze two especially
important cases: the imaging systems and diffractive systems.
4.5.1. Exact and Inexact Imaging

The factorization in Eq. (3.70) describes the ABCD optical system as an
equivalent free propagation of distance B/A, an exact imaging system with
magnification m ¼ A (by ‘‘exact imaging,’’ we mean an imaging system
with zero optical power), and a thin lens with focal length f 0 ¼ –A/C.
In particular, let us consider an imaging system described by the ray
matrix in Eq. (3.7). The direct application of the factorization in Eq. (3.70)
leads to the following:
0 1 0 1 0 1
m 0 1 0 m 0
B C B C B C
MIMAG ¼ @ 1 1 A ¼ @ 1 1 A @ 0 1 A: (3.74)
0
f m mf 0 m
In this decomposition, the matrix on the right corresponds to a perfect

exact imaging with magnification m, whereas the matrix on the left corre-
sponds to a thin lens with focal length mf 0 ; that is, according to Eq. (3.61), a
quadratic phase factor exp(–jpr2/lmf 0 ). Therefore, if g(r1) ¼ q(r1) denotes the
field amplitude at the object plane, with r1 ¼ (x1, y1) as the spatial coordi-
nates at this plane, the field amplitude g(r2) at the image plane is given by

pr22 1 1
gðr2 Þ ¼ exp j q r1 ; (3.75)
lmf 0 m m

where m1 q m1 r1 represents the scaled version of the input object. These
equations show that the image plane has, in general, a quadratic phase factor,
which is not important if only the intensity of the image plane is of interest
(Yariv, 1994).
Figure 13 shows two particular cases of imaging systems with magnifica-
tion m ¼ –1; in both cases the input and output planes correspond to the
front and rear anti-principal planes A and A0 . The first one uses a single lens
with the same object and image propagation distances equal to 2f 0 . In this
case, the ray matrix calculation is given by the following matrix cascade:
0 1 0 1
0
1 0 0
1 0
1 2f B C 1 2f B C
MIMAG ¼ @ 1 1A ¼ @ 1 1 A
0 1 f0 0 1 f0
0 1 (3.76)
1 0
B C 1 0
¼ @ 1 1A :
0 0 1
f
(a)
P1 f⬘ P2
d1 = 2f ⬘ d2 = 2f ⬘
(b)
P1 P⬘ P2
f⬘ f⬘
A A⬘
d1 = f ⬘ d2 = 2f d3 = f ⬘
FIGURE 13 Two imaging systems between planes P1 and P2. (a) Inexact imaging
configuration with a single lens. (b) Exact imaging with two lenses through two cascaded
Fourier transforms.
This result shows that the image plane contains a quadratic phase
factor exp(þjpr2/lf 0 ), which corresponds to an equivalent diverging
lens with focal length –f 0 located on the image plane.
Conversely, the second system in Figure 13 uses two equal lenses, and
the sequence of ray matrices to calculate the system matrix is given by
0 1 0 1
1 0 1 0
0
1 f0 B C 1 2f B C 1 f0
MIMAG ¼ @ 1 A @ 1 A
0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1
f f

1 0
¼ : ð3:77Þ
0 1
In this case, this result proves that there is a perfect exact imaging
condition (no quadratic phase term) between the input plane (P1) and the
final plane (P2). Note that the system in Figure 13b also can be viewed as
the cascade of two exact Fourier transform systems (as in Figure 12a). The
intermediate plane P0 shows the exact Fourier transform of plane P1, and
the plane P2 shows the exact Fourier transform of plane P0 . With this point
of view, the system can be regarded as producing a FRFT of order 2.
4.5.2. The Collins Formula and Fresnel Diffraction Approximation

A second interesting application can be derived from the factorization in
Eq. (3.71). There, the matrices in both ends adopt the form of a thin lens
[Eq. (3.29)], while the central matrix takes the form of the exact Fourier
transform system [Eq. (3.64)]. Therefore, any nonimaging (B 6¼ 0) general
optical system can be viewed as a Fourier transform system characterized
with a focal length f 0 ¼ B, inserted between two thin lenses with focal lengths
f 0 1 ¼ –B/A and f 0 2 ¼ –B/D at the input and output planes, respectively. This
decomposition thus provides a useful connection between the wave front
amplitudes at the input and output planes, g1(r1) and g2(r2), respectively.
Since the passage through a thin lens is equivalent to a multiplication
by a quadratic phase factor given in Eq. (3.61), and the Fourier transform
operation is given by Eq. (3.68) with a scaling parameter given by f 0 ¼ B
through Eq. (3.69), therefore, the wave front amplitude at the output plane
g2(r2) is obtained from g1(r1) as
2 3 8 2 3 9
1 2
pr D < 2
pr A =
g2 ð r 2 Þ ¼ exp4j 2 5FT exp4j 1 5g1 ðr1 Þ
jlB lB : lB ;
2 3 þ1 2 3 2 2 =lB
u¼r 3
ð
1 pr 2
D pr 2
A r r
exp4j 2 5 g1 ðr1 Þ exp4j 1 5 exp4j2p
1 25
¼ dr1 :
jlB lB lB lB
1
(3.78)
This result is known as the Collins diffraction formula since it was first
described by Collins (1970).
A case of particular interest is the interpretation of Fresnel diffraction
on the basis of the matrix factorization in Eq. (3.71) and the subsequent
generalized Collins diffraction formula. The application of this matrix
factorization to the matrix corresponding to a free-space propagation
(Eq. (3.8)) leads to

1 d 1 0 0 d 1 0
¼ : (3.79)
0 1 1=d 1 1=d 0 1=d 1
This equation shows that the free-space propagation (Fresnel trans-
form) is equivalent to a Fourier transform system, multiplied at both ends
by diverging lenses of focal length f 0 ¼ –d. Then, the decomposition in
Eq. (3.78) directly leads to the equation for the Fresnel diffraction approx-
imation (Goodman, 1996):
2 3 8 2 3 9
1 pr 2 < pr 2 =
g2 ðr2 Þ ¼ exp4j 2 5FT exp4j 1 5g1 ðr1 Þ
jld ld : ld ;
u¼r2 =ld
2 3 þ1 2 3 2 3 (3.80)
ð
1 pr 2
pr 2
r r
exp4j 2 5 gðr1 Þ exp4j 1 5 exp4j2p
1 25
¼ dr1 :
jld ld ld ld
1
Note that the exact Fourier transform system shown in Figure 12b is
obtained by adding two converging lenses with focal lengths f ¼ þd on
either side of the free propagation that exactly compensate the diverging
lenses in Eq. (3.79).
Finally, let us note that the Fraunhofer approximation is obtained
when the propagation distance d is large enough so the quadratic phase
factors corresponding to the two matrices in the end in Eq. (3.79) can be
considered as constant or, in other words, the free-space propagation
matrix can be approximated by the central Fourier transform type matrix
in Eq. (3.79). Then Eq. (3.80) can be approximated as
ð
þ1
h
1 1 r1 r2 i
g2 ð r 2 Þ ffi FTfg1 ðr1 Þgu¼r2 =ld ¼ gðr1 Þ exp j2p dr1 : (3.81)
jld jld ld
1
4.5.3. Inexact Fourier Transform Optical Systems

In a manner similar to the exact and inexact imaging systems described in
subsection 4.5.1, there exist optical systems that provide, at the output, the
Fourier transform of the input amplitude, but multiplied by a quadratic
phase distribution. This situation occurs whenever the ray transfer matrix
has parameters A ¼ 0 but D 6¼ 0. In this case, the factorization in Eq. (3.71)
directly leads to

0 B 1 0 0 B
¼ : (3.82)
C D D=B 1 1=B 0
This factorization shows that the optical system is equivalent to an
exact Fourier transform system characterized by a focal length f 0 ¼ B, but
the output amplitude must be multiplied by the quadratic phase factor
corresponding to a thin lens of focal length f 0 ¼ B/D. Again, if only the
intensity of the Fourier transform pattern is of interest, this quadratic
phase factor can be ignored.
As an example, we consider a system similar to the 2f shown in
Figure 7a but with the frontal distance between the object and the lens
d1 d ¼ f 0 . This system has the following ray matrix:
0 1 0 1
1 0 0 f0
0
1 f B C 1 d B dC
M¼ @ 1 1A ¼@ 1 A
0 1 0 1 1
f0 f0 f0
0 1 0 1 (3.83)
0
1
1
0 0 f0
B C B C
¼B C
@ 1 @ 1 d A 1 A @ 1 0 A:
f0 f0 f0
Therefore, the output amplitude is the Fourier transform of the input

one but multiplied by a quadratic phase factor that vanishes only when
d ¼ f 0 , denoted as follows:

pr22 d
g2 ðr2 Þ ¼ exp þj 0 1 0 FTfg1 ðr1 Þgu¼r2 =lf 0 : (3.84)
lf f
4.6. Anamorphic Optical Fourier Transformers

All these previous concepts on Fourier transform optical systems can be
extended to anamorphic systems. Next we analyze two anamorphic Fourier
transform systems proposed by Szoplik (1984, 1985) under the perspective
of the ray transfer matrix.
4.6.1. Inexact Anamorphic Fourier Transformer

The first system was based on using two crossed cylindrical lenses with
different focal lengths (Figure 14). One-dimensional Fourier transforms are
obtained in orthogonal directions since the rear focal planes of both lenses
coincide. A redistribution of information is obtained at the common focal
plane, depending on the degree of anamorphism; that is, depending on the
ratio of the focal lengths. However, since the object distance can match only
one of the two focal distances, therefore a quadratic phase factor appears in
f ⬘x
y
Object f ⬘y
plane x
y
x
z
Inexact
anamorphic
f ⬘y FT plane
d
f ⬘x f ⬘y
FIGURE 14 Inexact anamorphic Fourier transformer.
the Fourier plane oriented along the coordinate that does not match the
Fourier condition (the x direction in Figure 14).
The analysis of this situation is straightforward with the ray matrix
formalism. Since the lenses are orthogonal, we can treat the system as two
standard 2 2 matrices. The two matrices from the object to the Fourier
plane, for the x and y directions are, respectively,
0 1
0 f 0x
B C
Mx ¼ @ 1 1 d A (3.85a)
0
fx 0
fx
and
0 1
0 f 0y
B 1 C
My ¼ @ 0 A: (3.85b)
f 0y
Since D 6¼ 0 in Eq. (3.85a), a quadratic phase factor appears in the

x direction. This phase factor multiplies the Fourier transform in this
direction and, according to the previous discussion in subsection 4.5.3,
is equal to

2

px d 2px2
exp j 0 1 0 ¼ exp j 0 ð1 cÞ ; (3.86)
lf x fx lf x
where d ¼ 2f y0 – f x0 and we use the angular magnification coefficient or

anamorphism factor (c) of the Fourier transformer, defined as the ratio of
the focal lengths (Szoplik, 1984), as follows:
f 0y
c¼ : (3.87)
f 0x
4.6.2. Exact Anamorphic Fourier Transformer

The second anamorphic optical system proposed by Szoplik (1984) per-
forms an exact anamorphic Fourier transform. Figure 15 shows a scheme
of this optical system, which uses four cylindrical lenses, three of them
active in the y direction, and one active in the x direction. Since all lenses
are orthogonal, again the system can be analyzed with two independent
standard 2 2 ray matrices for the x and y directions.
In this case, the optical system for the x direction is equivalent to the 2f
Fourier transformer in Figure 12a, and the ray matrix Mx describing this
system is equivalent to the Fourier transform matrix in Eq. (3.64), with the
focal length f 0x. However, for the y direction the system is composed of
three 2f Fourier transformers in cascade. The two first lenses, with focal
lengths f 0y1 and f 0y2, compose the two first 2f Fourier transformers. The ray
matrix for this system is given by the product of two Fourier transform
matrices:
!
f 0y2 =f 0y1 0 my 0
0 0
MFT f y2 MFT f y1 ¼ : (3.88)
0 f 0y1 =f 0y2 0 1=my
This ray matrix corresponds to a perfect imaging with magnification

0 0
my ¼ –f y2 /f y1 . Since both lenses are considered convergent, this
Intermediate
y image plane
y f ⬘y1
⬘
f y2
Object f ⬘x
plane x
f ⬘y
x
z
⬘
f y1 f y⬘ + f
1 y⬘2 Exact
f ⬘y2 anamorphic
f ⬘y FT plane
f x⬘
f y⬘
f x⬘
FIGURE 15 Exact anamorphic Fourier transformer.

magnification is negative and the image is inverted. The final y active

lens provides an exact Fourier transform of this intermediate image. To
obtain the anamorphic Fourier transform, the Fourier transforms in the x
and y directions must appear in the same plane, which happens provided
the condition f x0 ¼ f 0 y1 þ f 0 y2 þ f 0 y. The ray matrix describing the transition
from the object to the anamorphic Fourier transform plane in the y direction
is therefore given by

My ¼ MFT f 0y MFT f 0y2 MFT f 0y1

0 f 0y my 0 0 f 0y =my (3.89)
¼ 0 ¼ 0 :
1=f y 0 0 1=my my f y 0
Viewed from the anamorphic FRFT point of view, a FRFT of order 1

is obtained in the x direction, while a FRFT of order 3 is obtained in the y
direction. The anamorphic Fourier transform is obtained when the focal
lengths applied in each direction are different. In this system, the
anamorphism factor is now given by
f 0y =my f 0y1 f 0y
c¼ ¼ : (3.90)
f 0x f 0y2 f 0x
5. CASCADING MULTIPLE EQUIVALENT SYSTEMS:

THE FRACTIONAL FOURIER TRANSFORM
The FRFT is the generalization to fractional orders of the Fourier trans-

form operation (Ozatkas, 2001). Next we extend the previous study to
review the application of the ray transfer matrix method to derive the
properties of the optical systems performing the optical FRFT operation.
5.1. Heuristic Concept of the FRFT Optical System

We start by introducing the idea of the FRFT operation in terms of its
physical realization with optical systems. To that purpose, we consider
the two optical systems shown in Figure 16. The first is the quarter-pitch
grin lens, while the second is a lens system composed of two identical
lenses with focal length f 0 . Both systems perform an exact Fourier
transform between the input plane P0 and the output plane P1, which,
therefore, coincide respectively with the system front and rear focal
planes, F and F0 . The two systems can be viewed as the cascade of two
identical systems. In the case of the grin lens, we can consider the quarter-
pitch lens as consisting of two eight-pitch grin lenses. In the case of the
bulk lens system, we impose the condition that the free propagation
distance d from P0 to the first lens is equal to the distance from the second
lens to plane P1, and that the distance between the two lenses is twice this
value: 2d. It is a simple problem of geometrical optics to show that the
(a)
P0 P1/2 P1
F F⬘
(b)
P0 f⬘ P1/2 f⬘ P1
F F⬘
d d d d
FIGURE 16 Two optical systems producing the Fourier transform of the plane P0 on the
plane P1, and producing the FRFT of order p ¼ 1/2 in plane P1/2.
distance d providing the ray trajectories described in Figure 16b is related

to the focal length f 0 of the lenses by the following relation:

1
d ¼ f 1 pffiffiffi ¼ 0:293f 0 :
0
(3.91)
2
Therefore, in each case the optical systems in Figure 16 can be viewed
as the cascade of two identical subsystems, one propagating from P0 to
P1/2, and the second propagating from P1/2 to P1. Since the two systems
produce an exact Fourier transform relation between planes P0 to P1, the
plane P1/2 can be viewed as the plane where a FRFT of order p ¼ 1/2 (half
Fourier transform) is produced.
Next we show that this heuristic idea is valid and is the basis for the
definition of the FRFT operation.
5.2. Derivation of the Ray Transfer Matrix of an FRFT System

The use of the ray matrix method to analyze FRFT optical systems was
introduced by Lohmann (1993) and extensively studied by Bernardo
(1996). Here, following the heuristic idea introduced in the previous
subsection, we present a simple derivation of the ray matrix of FRFT
systems based on the application of the Sylvester theorem (Shamir,
1995). Let us consider an optical elemental system described by a general
matrix M0 with parameters ABCD. The ray matrix of the q-repetition of
this elemental system can be calculated by means of the Sylvester theorem,

which states that

q 1 A sinðqyÞ sinððq 1ÞyÞ B sinðqyÞ
M0 ¼ ;
sinðyÞ C sinðqyÞ D sinðqyÞ sinððq 1ÞyÞ
(3.92)
where q is an integer and the angle y is given by the relation
1
cosðyÞ ¼ ðA þ DÞ: (3.93)
2
If the q-repetition of this optical elemental system produces an exact
Fourier transform, the elemental system can be regarded as producing a
FRFT of order p ¼ 1/q. Therefore, an optical system that produces a FRFT
of order p ¼ 1/q must have a ray matrix M0 such that
q
q A B 0 f0
M0 ¼ ¼ ; (3.94)
C D 1=f 0 0
where f 0 is now denoting the focal length of the Fourier transform

system after the cascade of the q identical subsystems with matrix M0.
By comparing Eqs. (3.92) and (3.94), the FRFT condition is satisfied if
sinððq 1ÞyÞ
A¼D¼ ; (3.95)
sinðqyÞ
where now cos(y) ¼ A ¼ D. These two last relations lead to the condition
cos(qy) ¼ 0, which has the nontrivial solution
p p
y¼p ¼ ; (3.96)
2 2q
with p ¼ 1/q denoting the fractional order of the FRFT.

Therefore, it can be directly concluded that the ray matrix of an optical
system performing a FRFT of order p can be written in the following
general form:
0 1
cosðyÞ s sinðyÞ
B C
MFRFT ðp; sÞ ¼ @ 1 sinðyÞ cosðyÞ A; (3.97)
s
where the fractional order p is given by the angle y through Eq. (3.96), and
the parameter s acts as a scaling factor. This parameter is sometimes also
referred to as the standard or generalized focal length, although we note that
the focal length of the FRFT system is given by s/sin(y).
The application of the Collins formula to this specific ray transfer
matrix provides the output FRFT field g2(r2) as a function of the input
field g2(r1) as
pr2
ð pr2
1 2pr1 r2
ejls tanðfÞ g1 ðr1 Þe jls tanðfÞ ejls sinðfÞ dr1 ;
2 1
g2 ðr2 Þ ¼ Ip ðg1 ðr1 ÞÞ ¼ (3.98)
jls sinðfÞ
where Ip ðÞ denotes the FRFT operation.
5.3. Propetries of the FRFT Operation

The ray transfer matrix in Eq. (3.97) is a simple method to demonstrate the
following well-established properties of the FRFT operation (Torre, 2002):
1. Continuity property: Ip is continuous with respect to the order param-
eter p: Ip tends to Iq as p tends to q. This is obvious from Eq. (3.97) since
the sine and cosine functions show this property [the argument y in
this equation is related to the FRFT order through Eq. (3.96)].
2. Semigroup property: composing two FRFT of orders p1 and p2 yields
the FRFT of order p1 þ p2. This property is fulfilled provided the scaling
factors of the two FRFT operations match. The ray transfer matrix
formalism easily demonstrates this property. Let us consider two
FRFT systems described with ray transfer matrices given by
Eq. (3.97). The order and the scaling factors of the two FRFT systems
are (p1, s1) and (p2, s2), respectively. These two FRFT systems placed in
cascade lead to the following ray matrix:
M¼M0 FRFT ðp2 ; s2 Þ MsFRFT ðp1 ; s1 Þ 1
2
cos y1 cos y2 sin y1 sin y2 s1 sin y1 cos y2 þ s2 cos y1 sin y2
B s1 C
B C
¼ B cos y sin y sin y1 cos y2 s1 C;
@ 1 2
cos y1 cos y2 sin y1 sin y2 A
s2 s1 s2
(3.99)
where yi ¼ pip/2, i ¼ 1, 2. In general, if s1 6¼ s2, Eq. (3.99) does not
correspond to an FRFT system, since the A and D parameters of the ray
matrix are not equal. Only when s1 ¼ s2 does Eq. (3.99) adopt the
following form:
M ¼ MFRFT ðp2 ; s2 ¼ sÞ MFRFT ðp1 ; s1 ¼ sÞ
0 1
cos y1 cos y2 sin y1 sin y2 sð sin y1 cos y2 þ cos y1 sin y2 Þ
¼ @ 1 ð cos y1 sin y2 sin y1 cos y2 Þ cos y1 cos y2 sin y1 sin y2
A
s
0 1
cosðy1 þ y2 Þ s sinðy1 þ y2 Þ
¼ @ 1 sinðy1 þ y2 Þ cosðy1 þ y2 Þ A;
s
(3.100)
which corresponds exactly to Eq. (3.97), where the total fractional angle
is y ¼ y1 þ y2, and therefore the FRFT orders add: p ¼ p1 þ p2.
3. Identity, Fourier, and imaging property: Ip reduces to the identity, the
ordinary Fourier transform, the inverse operation, and the inverse
Fourier transform operation for FRFT orders p ¼ 0, 1, 2, and 3 respec-
tively. This is again easily demonstrated through the ray transfer
matrix in Eq. (3.97).
For p ¼ 0 the FRFT ray transfer matrix collapses to the identity matrix:

1 0
MFRFT ðp ¼ 0; sÞ ¼ : (3.101)
0 1
Note that the identity matrix corresponds to the exact imaging con-
dition between principal planes.
For p ¼ 1, the FRFT ray transfer matrix adopts the following anti-
diagonal form:
0 1
0 s
B C
MFRFT ðp ¼ 1; sÞ ¼ @ 1 0 A; (3.102)
s
which is equivalent to the ordinary Fourier transform ray transfer

matrix in Eq. (3.64) by assimilating the focal length f 0 to the scaling
FRFT factor s.
For p ¼ 2, the FRFT ray transfer matrix adopts the –1 identity form:

1 0
MFRFT ðp ¼ 2; sÞ ¼ : (3.103)
0 1
This exactly corresponds to the perfect imaging condition with

magnification m ¼ 1; it provides an inverted replica of the input
complex amplitude. Note that this corresponds to the well-known
property of the ordinary Fourier transform operation which, after
two consecutive operations, provides the same but inverted function.
Finally, for p ¼ 3, the following anti-diagonal matrix is obtained:
0 1 0 1
0 s 0 s
B C 1 0 B C
MFRFT ðp ¼ 3; sÞ ¼ @ þ 1 0 A ¼ @1 0A
0 1
s s
0 1 (3.104)
0 s
B C 1 0
¼ @1 0A :
0 1
s
This matrix can be viewed as a Fourier transform–type matrix where

now f 0 ¼ –s or, according to the matrix decomposition in the previous
equation, either as a Fourier transform followed by an inversion (first
decomposition), or first an inversion of the input amplitude, followed
by an ordinary Fourier transform (second decomposition). In both

cases, this corresponds to the ordinary inverse Fourier transform
operation.
4. Inversion property: the consecutive application of FRFT operations with
orders p and –p leaves invariant the input signal: Ip ðIp ðgðrÞÞÞ ¼
Ip ðIp ðgðrÞÞÞ ¼ gðrÞ. Again, this property can be directly demonstrated
by the multiplication of the corresponding ray matrices.
5. Complementary property: An FRFT of a fractional order p0 in the range
(2, 4) is equivalent to an inverted replica of the FRFT pattern of order
p ¼ p0 –2, and with the same scale, which therefore lies in the range
(0, 2). This property can again be probed from the ray matrix since
0 0 1 0 11
B cos@p0 pA p
s sin@p0 A C
B 2 2 C
B C
B C
MFRFT ðp0 ; sÞ ¼ B 0 1 0 1C
B C
B 1 C
@ sin@p0 pA cos@p0 pA A
s 2 2
0 0 1 0 11
p
B cos@p þ pA p
B s sin@p þ pA C C
B 2 2 C
B C
¼B 0 1 0 1C (3.105)
B C
B 1 C
@ sin@p p þ pA cos@p p þ pA A
s 2 2
0 0 1 0 11
B p p
! B cos p 2
@ A s sin@p A C
B 2 CC
1 0 B C
¼ B 0 1 0 1 C:
0 1 B C
B 1 C
@ sin@p pA cos@p pA A
s 2 2
The inversion relation existing between direct and inverse Fourier

transforms is a particular case of this property.
We end this section by noting that the FRFT order adopts real
values whenever the angle y in Eq. (3.96) is real. The inspection of
Eq. (3.97) reveals that this happens provided the A¼D elements of the
ray transfer matrix take values in the range (–1,þ1). Optical systems
with ray matrix parameters A ¼ D but outside this range provide
complex-order FRFT. Here we concentrate on the real-valued FRFT
systems, but a detailed analysis of complex FRFT can be found in Shih
(1995) and Bernardo (1996b).
5.4. Basic FRFT Optical Systems

The first system proposed to perform optical FRFT transform was the
selfoc grin lens (Mendlovic, 1993). By using the ray transfer matrix
approach one can immediately conclude that property. The ray matrix
of a grin lens [Eq. (3.41)] directly follows the FRFT condition through
A ¼ D ¼ cos(oL). In this case, the angle y in Eq. (3.95) is equal to oL.
Consequently, a grin lens of length L produces an FRFT of order p ¼ 2oL/p
When L ¼ p/2o (the quarter-pitch grin lens), the exact Fourier transform is
recovered. An important characteristic of this system is that the scaling
factor is always s ¼ 1. Therefore, the FRFT order can be changed continu-
ously by changing the length L, and the scale of the FRFT is maintained.
This is not the usual case in bulk lens systems. All these results coincide
with those presented in Mendlovic (1993) but are obtained directly from a
simple analysis of the ray transfer matrix.
Shortly after the initial works on FRFT with grin lenses, Lohmann
(1993) proposed two bulk optical systems producing FRFT, which are
sketched in Figure 17. The first system consists of a free propagation
of distance d, a converging lens of focal length f 0 , and a second free
propagation of distance d. Its ray matrix is
0 0 11
0 1 d @ d AC
1 0 ! BB1 f0 d 2 f0 C
1 d B C 1 d B C
MLohI ¼ @ 1 A ¼BB
C:
C
0 1 1 0 1 B C
f0 @ 1 d
0
1 0 A
f f
(3.106)
The second system consists of a lens of focal length f 0 , a free propaga-
tion of distance d, and a second lens of the same focal length f 0 . In this
case, the ray matrix is
(a) (b)
P1 P2 P1 P2
z z
d d d
FIGURE 17 Lohmann lens systems that perform FRFT between planes P1 and P2.
(a) Propagation-lens-propagation. (b) Lens-propagation-lens.
0 1 0 1
1 0 1 0
B 1 C 1 d B 1 C
MLohII ¼ @ 1A 0 1
@ 1A
f0 f0
0 1
d
B 1 0 d C
B f C
B 0 1 C
¼B C: (3.107)
B 1 d d C
@ @2 A 1 A
f 0 f 0 f 0
In both cases, the ray matrix fulfills the requirement that A ¼ D ¼ 1 – d/f 0 .
Therefore both systems perform an FRFT of order p ¼ 2y/p, where cos(y) ¼
1 – d/f 0 . Consequently, if an FRFT of order p is desired, the relation between
f 0 and d is given by
d p
¼ 1 cos p : (3.108)
f0 2
Again, this equation coincides with the formula derived using diffrac-
tion integrals (Dorsch, 1995) and is obtained here from the simple inspec-
tion of the ray matrix. We note that, for p ¼ 1/2, Eq. (3.91) is recovered.
In both cases, the two perfect Fourier transform systems shown in Figure 12
are recovered when d ¼ f 0 , which correspond to an FRFT order p ¼ 1.
Figure 18 shows the evolution of the order p and the scaling factor s as
a function of the quotient d/f 0 in the range p 2 (0,2), which includes
imaging and Fourier transforming systems. Two interesting aspects are
the nonlinear behavior of the FRFT order and the fact that the scaling
factor tends to be zero at the limits d ¼ 0 and d ¼ 2f 0 in the propagation-
lens-propagation system proposed by Lohmann (1993).
5.5. Symmetrical Lens Systems

The two basic systems proposed by Lohmann (1993) are symmetrical with
respect to the central plane in the system. This property is general:
Symmetrical lens systems always act as FRFT systems. To demonstrate
this, we consider a generic lens system shown in Figure 19a. We consider
the propagation from an input plane (I) through an arbitrary lens system,
which is described with a unimodular ray matrix M0¼ {ABCD}, reflection
in a planar mirror, and retropropagation until the output plane (O) is
coincident with the input one. This system can be treated equivalently
with a one-direction system sketched in Figure 19b, which therefore is a
symmetrical optical system with respect to the central plane.
Following the reverse propagation theorems (Tovar, 1994), the matrix
M0 describing the propagation through the mirror image lens system is
given by
(a) 2.0 2.0

1.8 1.8
1.6 1.6
Scaling factor (s/f⬘)

1.4 1.4
FRFT order (p)
1.2 1.2
1.0 1.0
0.8 0.8
0.6 0.6
0.4 0.4
0.2 0.2
0.0 0.0
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0
Ratio d/f ⬘
(b)
2.0 2.0
1.8 1.8
1.6 1.6
Scaling factor (s/f ⬘)

1.4 1.4
FRFT order (p)
1.2 1.2
1.0 1.0
0.8 0.8
0.6 0.6
0.4 0.4
0.2 0.2
0.0 0.0
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0
Ratio d/f ⬘
FIGURE 18 FRFT order (p) and normalized scaling factor (s/f 0 ) as a function of
the ratio d/f 0 in the two FRFT lens systems proposed by Lohmann in (1993). (a) System I:
propagation-lens-propagation; (b) system II: lens-propagation-lens.
(a) (b)
Central symmetry plane
I I
Lens system Lens system Mirror image
lens system
Planar –1
M0 mirror M0 M⬘ = GM0 G
O O
FIGURE 19 Representation of a symmetrical lens system.

M0 ¼ G M1
0 G; (3.109)
where G is the matrix

þ1 0
G¼ ; (3.110)
0 1
and M10 indicates the inverse matrix of M0. Using the unimodular prop-
erty of the matrix M0, the result in Eq. (3.109) is

0 D B
M ¼ : (3.111)
C D
Therefore, the matrix MR describing the propagation from I to O in this
system, which is a symmetrical system, is given by

AD þ BC 2BD
MR ðI ! OÞ ¼ M0 M0 ¼ : (3.112)
2AC AD þ BC
This matrix describes a generic optical system that is symmetric with
respect to the central plane. The comparison between Eqs. (3.112) and
(3.97) reveals that the symmetrical lens system is always an FRFT optical
system, with the FRFT order (p) and scaling (s) parameters given by the
relations
p
cos p ¼ AD þ BC and (3.113)
2
BD
s2 ¼ : (3.114)
AC
Whenever the right-hand side of Eq. (3.113) lies in the range (1, þ1),
the system provides a FRFT with real order p. When this is not the case,
the FRFT order p becomes complex.
5.6. Inexact Fractional Fourier Transformers

Earlier we introduced inexact imaging systems and inexact Fourier trans-
former as imaging and Fourier transform systems that include a quadratic
phase factor at the output plane. The same situation occurs with fractional
Fourier transformers. In fact, in Ozatkas (1997) the ray matrix MIFRFT for a
general nonexact FRFT optical system was written as
0 1 0 1 0 1
1 0 m 0 cosðyÞ s sinðyÞ
B C B C B C
MIFRFT ¼ @ 1 1 A @ 0 1 A @ 1 sinðyÞ cosðyÞ A; (3.115)
f 0 m s
that is, the inexact FRFT optical system is composed of an exact FRFT
system, plus a perfect imaging system with magnification m, plus a
quadratic phase factor equivalent to a thin lens of focal length f 0 . The
explicit calculation of Eq. (3.115) leads to the following result:
0 1
m cosðyÞ ms sinðyÞ
MIFRFT ¼ @ cosðyÞ
m 1 ms 1 A
sinðyÞ 0 sinðyÞ þ cosðyÞ : (3.116)
f0 ms f m
Equations (3.115) and (3.116) reveal another useful factorization of a

general ABCD system, different from those presented in Section 4.5,
directly related to the FRFT operation.
5.7. Fractional Fourier Transforms and Fresnel Diffraction

We finish this section by relating the FRFT with the Fresnel diffraction. This
subject has been treated, for instance, in Andrés (1997) and Mas (2000).
Here we apply the ray matrix factorization in Eq. (3.70) to the FRFT matrix
in Eq. (3.97). This can be written as
0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1
cosðyÞ s sinðyÞ 1 0 cosðyÞ 0 sinðyÞ
B 1 C B 1 sinðyÞ C B B1 s
1 C cosðyÞ C
@ sinðyÞ cosðyÞ A ¼ @ 1A @ 0 A@ A
s s cosðyÞ cosðyÞ 0 1
0 1 0 1
cosðyÞ 0 sinðyÞ
B B1 s
¼ @ 1 sinðyÞ 1 C A@ cosðyÞ C
A:

s cosðyÞ cosðyÞ 0 1
(3.117)
The comparison of this factorization with the ray matrices of a free-
space propagation [Eq. (3.8)] and of the thin lens [Eq.(3.29)] reveals that an
FRFT characterized with a fractional order p and a scaling parameter s can
be viewed as an equivalent free-space propagation of distance d given by
d ¼ s tanðyÞ: (3.118)
The pattern resulting from this free propagation is then imaged with a
thin lens of focal length f 0 given by
s
f0 ¼ ; (3.119)
tanðyÞ
with a lateral magnification m given by
m ¼ cosðyÞ: (3.120)
This result was reported in Mas (2000).
6. CARDINAL PLANES IN FRACTIONAL FOURIER

TRANSFORM LENS SYSTEMS
The results presented up to this point reveal a close connection between the
geometrical parameters of the optical systems and the FRFT order. Next,
we explicitly review it by locating the cardinal planes of the lens systems
proposed by Lohmann (1993) and show how this point of view can lead to
the design to other FRFT optical systems with alternative properties.
6.1. Cardinal Planes in a Lohmann Type I FRFT System

Let us first inspect the location of the cardinal planes in the Lohmann
type I system. From the matrix in Eq. (3.102), the FRFT order is real when
the propagation distance d is in the range (0, 2 f 0 ). These areas have been
shaded in Figure 20, which again represents the Lohmann system, and
where I and O represent here the location of the input and output planes
that are connected through an exact FRFT operation.
Let us note that the range d 2 (0, 2f 0 ) is connected to the geometrical
cardinal planes of the lens system. In the limit d ¼ 0, the object and FRFT
planes are, respectively, the object (H) and image (H0 ) principal planes
which, for the thin lens, coincide on the lens plane. This imaging link with
unity magnification is in agreement with an FRFT of order p ¼ 0. When
d ¼ f 0 , the input and output planes coincide respectively with the front (F)
and rear (F0 ) focal planes, and the FRFT has order p ¼ 1. Finally, in the
limit when d ¼ 2f 0 , the object and FRFT planes coincide respectively with
the object (A) and image (A0 ) anti-principal planes. The imaging link with
–1 magnification is in agreement with the FRFT of order p ¼ 2.
It is interesting to express the FRFT conditions in terms of the distances
referred to the focal planes, z and z0 , respectively, in Figure 7. The imaging
condition in terms of these distances is the Newtonian imaging law
Object region Diffraction region

for real order FRFTs for real order FRFTs
{
{
I O
z f f⬘ z⬘
d d
FIGURE 20 Cardinal planes in a Lohmann type II FRFT lens system.

zz0 ¼ ( f 0 )2 presented in Eq. (3.38). It can be shown directly from Eq. (3.37)
that the FRFT condition is obtained if
z0 ¼ z: (3.121)
We defined in Moreno (2007) a normalized Newtonian image distance
as x0 z0 /f 0 , so the relation that determines the FRFT order p [Eq. (3.108)]
becomes
p z0
cos p ¼ x0 ¼ 0 : (3.122)
2 f
When x0 is in the range (–1,þ1), the FRFT order is real. When x0 ¼ 0, the
FRFT order is p ¼ 1 (Fourier transform), while the limits x0 ¼ –1, and þ1
correspond to FRFT orders p ¼ 0 and 2, respectively (imaging cases).
Outside this range, the FRFT order is complex.
The importance of these conclusions is related not only to the Lohmann
type I system. Since any lens system can be treated as an equivalent thin
lens when measuring distances from the principal planes, the above-
mentioned characteristics can be extended to a generic lens system; that is:
1. Any optical system provides an FRFT link between input and output
planes whenever the condition z0 ¼ z is fulfilled;
2. The order of the FRFT is given by Eq. (3.122) and it is real valued if the
input plane lies between the object principal and the object anti-principal
planes (and therefore the corresponding output FRFT plane lies in the
symmetrical location between the image principal plane and the image
anti-principal plane).
These conditions can be written in terms of the normalized Newtonian
distances as
x0 ¼ ð1; þ1Þ: (3.123)
Finally, in order to be a useful FRFT optical system, both input and
output planes must be real (not virtual). These conclusions are general
and are not only valid for symmetrical systems.
We note that in the limiting cases p ¼ 0 (d ¼ 0) and p ¼ 2 (d ¼ 2f 0 ), the
two Lohmann FRFT systems in Figure 15 do not provide an exact FRFT
system but an inexact FRFT system with a quadratic phase factor, accord-
ing to the discussion in Section 5.6. This is why we explicitly omitted these
limits in Eq. (3.123).
6.2. Cardinal Planes in a Lohmann Type II FRFT System

We next apply a similar analysis for the second lens system proposed by
Lohmann (1993). Figure 21 shows this optical system for different values
of the propagation distance. In each case, we show the location of the
S F⬘1 dO = 0 z⬘ = –f ⬘/2
(a) d=0 f ⬘/2 dH⬘ = 0 f S⬘ = f ⬘/2
I O dF⬘ = f ⬘/2 x⬘ = –1
dA⬘ = f ⬘ p=0
z⬘
A F HH⬘ F⬘ A⬘
(b) S F⬘1 dO = f ⬘/4 z⬘ = –f ⬘/3

d = f ⬘/2 dH⬘ = –f ⬘/12 f S⬘ = 2f ⬘/3
I O dF⬘ = 7f ⬘/12 x⬘ = –1/2
dA⬘ = 15f ⬘/12 p = 2/3
z⬘
A F H⬘H F⬘ A⬘
S F⬘1 dO = f ⬘/2
(c) z⬘ = 0
d=f⬘ dH⬘ = –f ⬘/2 f S⬘ = f ⬘
I O
dF⬘ = f ⬘/2 x⬘ = 0
dA⬘ = 3f ⬘/2 p=1
z⬘ = 0
A FH⬘ F⬘H A⬘
(d) S F⬘1 dO = 3f ⬘/4

d=3f ⬘/2 dH⬘ = –9f ⬘/4
I O
dF⬘ = –f ⬘/4
dA⬘ = 7f ⬘/4
z⬘ = f ⬘
f ⬘S = 2f ⬘
z⬘
x⬘ = 1/2
p = 4/3
H⬘ A F⬘ F A⬘ H
FIGURE 21 Cardinal planes in a Lohmann type I FRFT lens system. The distance between
the two lenses is (a) d ¼ 0; (b) d ¼ f 0 /2; (c) d ¼ f 0 ; and (d) d ¼ 3f 0 /2.
principal, focal, and anti-principal planes as the FRFT order p is changed

(by changing the distance d between the two lenses). In this case, we give
the distances dO, dH0 , dF0 and dA0 measured from the central plane (plane of
symmetry, S) to the FRFT plane (O), the image principal plane (H0 ), the
image focal plane (F0 ), and the image anti-principal plane (A0 ). In these
figures we also indicate the focal plane of the first lens (F0 1), and we draw
the propagation of an input parallel ray to show the locations of the image
principal and focal planes of the complete system. Since the system is
symmetrical, the locations of the object principal and focal planes are also
symmetrical with respect to the central plane. The anti-principal planes
are located in planes symmetrical to the principal planes with respect to
the focal planes. Finally, for each case we also give the values of the focal
length of the composed system ( f 0 S), the distance z0 , the normalized
Newtonian distance x0 ¼ z0 /f 0 S, and the FRFT order p.
Figure 21a shows the case when d ¼ 0, the normalized Newtonian
distance is x0 ¼ –1, and therefore p ¼ 0. This is equivalent to the Lohmann
type I system. The planes I and O coincide respectively with the principal
planes H and H0 . The figure indicates, shaded on the left part, the range of
planes between A and H, where the input object could be placed and,
shaded on the right part, the FRFT-related range of planes between
A0 and F0 .
Figure 21b shows the case when d ¼ f 0 /2. Now the principal planes are
between the two lenses (they are virtual). The object and FRFT planes,
I and O, are between F and H, and F0 and H0 , respectively. Now the focal
length of the system is f 0 S ¼ 2f 0 /3 (f 0 is the focal length of a single lens),
and the output plane distance z0 ¼ –f 0 /3, thus leading to a normalized
distance of x0 ¼ –0.5 and an FRFT order of p¼2/3. We show again the
planes between A and H that could be used to obtain other FRFT systems
with real values of the FRFT order p if the symmetrical output plane is
selected. However, part of this range is behind the first lens (they are
virtual input planes) and therefore is not useful.
Figure 21c shows the case when d ¼ f 0 , which corresponds to x0 ¼ 0 and
p ¼ 1, the Fourier transform system. Now the input and output planes
coincide with the object and image focal planes of the system. The range
of real planes that lie between A and H is further reduced compared with
the previous cases. This effect is further shown in Figure 21d, which
corresponds to the case with d ¼ 3f 0 /2, which leads to x0 ¼ þ0.5 and
p ¼ 4/3. In the limiting case when d tends to 2f 0 , the principal and the focal
planes move to infinity (the optical system becomes afocal), and the
anti-principal planes are undefined.
7. SOME ADVANCED FRFT LENS SYSTEMS
Efforts have been made to improve two drawbacks of the Lohmann lens
systems: (1) the scaling of the FRFT distribution changes when changing
the FRFT order, and (2) the requirement that changing the FRFT order
means the input and output planes must be changed.
The scaling properties of FRFT systems have been analyzed exten-
sively (Liu, 1997; Sharma, 2006; Sheppard, 1998). In general, in most
proposed FRFT systems, input and output planes must be readjusted

when changing the FRFT order. Systems that provide a tunable FRFT
order, without the requirement of moving the input and output planes,
were proposed by Lohmann (1995) and Moreno (2003) by using special
lenses. Lohmann (1995) proposed the use of zoom lenses, while in
Moreno’s work (2003) programmable diffractive lenses displayed onto a
liquid crystal display were used. Another method of realizing tunable
FRFTs without varying the input/output planes has been proposed by
Mendlovic (1996), which requires the change of the focal length of the
lenses. Finally, in Zalevsky (1997) a fractional correlator was proposed
with fixed input and output planes, and lenses with fixed focal lengths
and locations, which uses the longitudinal location of the filter to change
the space variance property.
Next we show how the previous point of view, regarding the location
of the cardinal planes, can be very useful to design specific lens systems.
7.1. FRFT Lens System with Fixed Input and Output Planes
The two Lohmann FRFT lens systems require that the input and output
(FRFT) planes change when the FRFT order is changed. In practical
experiments, however, it is convenient to design a FRFT lens system
that maintains fixed planes but permits a change of the FRFT order.
Here we apply the above-described point of view, in the design of a
FRFT system that maintains fixed input and output planes, and permits
the change of the FRFT order in the range p 2 (2, 4) only by moving the
lenses in a simple manner.
The idea is to design an optical system in which the fixed input and
output planes transit from the principal to the anti-principal planes by a
simple displacement of the lenses. Figure 22 shows the proposed optical
system. It is a symmetrical lens system with three convergent lenses, the
two extremes with focal length f 0 and the central one with focal length 2f 0 .
The input (I) and output (O) planes located are at distances 4f 0 from the
central plane. The variation in the FRFT order is produced by shifting the
two lateral lenses from the central one. In Figure 22a the two lateral lenses
are placed at distance d ¼ 2f 0 from the central plane. A ray trajectory is
drawn to show that input and output planes are the principal planes (they
are conjugated with þ1 magnification). Therefore, this optical system
performs the limiting imaging case corresponding to the FRFT order is
p ¼ 0 or equivalently p ¼ 4 (there is an additional quadratic phase term).
In Figure 22b the two lateral lenses are shifted to be at d ¼ 3f 0 from the
central plane. The ray trajectory shows that now the output plane is
the image focal plane and, for symmetry considerations, the input plane
is the object focal plane. In this case, the FRFT order becomes p ¼ 3.
(We remark that in this system, the input parallel ray with positive height
(a) S
f⬘ 2f ⬘ f⬘
O dO = 4f ⬘ z⬘ = 2f ⬘/3
I
dH⬘ = 4f ⬘ f ⬘S = 2f ⬘/3
dF⬘ = 10f ⬘/3 x⬘ = –1
d = 8f ⬘Ⲑ3 p = 0
A⬘
H F A A⬘ F⬘ H⬘
d = 2f ⬘
(b) S
f⬘ 2f ⬘ f⬘
I O dO = 4f ⬘ z⬘ = 0
dH⬘ = 9f ⬘Ⲑ2 f ⬘S = f ⬘/2
dF⬘ = 4f ⬘ x⬘ = 0
dA⬘ = 7f ⬘Ⲑ2 p=1
H F A A⬘ F⬘ H⬘
d = 3f ⬘
(c) S
f⬘ 2f ⬘ f⬘
I O dO = 4f ⬘ z⬘ = −2f⬘/3
dH⬘ = 16f ⬘Ⲑ3 f ⬘S = 2 f ⬘/3
dF⬘ = 14f ⬘Ⲑ3 x⬘ = +1
dA⬘ = 4f ⬘ p=2
H F A A⬘ F⬘ H
d = 4f ⬘
FIGURE 22 FRFT lens system proposed in Moreno (2007), with fixed input and output
planes. FRFT order p is changed in the range (0,2) when shifting the lateral lenses distance
x in the range (2f 0 ,4f 0 ) from the central symmetry plane S. I, O are the input and output
(FRFT) planes. H, H0 are the principal planes. F, F0 are the focal planes. A, A0 are the anti-
principal planes. Distances dO, dH0 , dF0 and dA0 are measured with origin at S. f 0 S is the
focal length of the optical system and x0 is the normalized Newtonian distance.
exits at the Fourier system with positive angle, in opposition to what

happens for instance in the one lens system in Figure 12. This indicates
that it corresponds to an inverse Fourier transform system, or equiva-
lently to an FRFT order p ¼ 3.) Finally, in Figure 22c, the two lateral lenses
are shifted to be at 4f 0 from the central plane. The ray trajectory shows that
now the input and output planes are conjugated with magnification –1:
they are the anti-principal planes. Now the FRFT order reaches the
imaging limit p ¼ 2.
In all cases, the figure shows the location of the object and image
principal, focal, and anti-principal planes. The distances dH0 , dF0 , and dA0
from the central symmetry plane S to the cardinal planes H0 , F0 , and A0 , the
focal length f 0 S of the whole lens system, and the Newtonian distances
z and x0 , are indicated in each case. The ranges of planes between principal
and anti-principal planes are shaded to indicate the planes that correspond
to real-valued FRFT orders. We can see that they are always real (not
virtual).
To further analyze the FRFT condition of the above lens system, we
compute the ray matrix from the input to the output plane. We calculate
the following ray matrix multiplication:
0 1 0 1
1 0 ! 1 0
1 4f 0 d B C 1 d B C
MIO ¼ @ 1 1A @ 1 1A
0 1 0 0 1 0
f 2f
0 1
1 0 !
1 d B 1 C 1 4f 0 d
@ A ; (3.124)
0 1 0 1 0 1
f
where d denotes the distance between the lateral lenses with the central
lens. The result of this matrix product is an FRFT ray matrix in the form
0 1
9 2 1 3 0 1 4
B 9 þ 12x 2 x þ 2 x f ð32 þ 48x 26x þ 6x x Þ C
2 3
B 2 C
B 0 1 C
MIO ¼ B C;
B1 5 1 9 1 C
@ @ x þ 3x x A2 3
9 þ 12x x þ x
2 3 A
d 2 2 2 2
(3.125)
where x d/f 0 . We see that the diagonal elements of the matrix are equal,
confirming the FRFT nature of the proposed lens system. The comparison
of Eqs. (3.97) and (3.125) leads to the following analytical expressions for
the FRFT order (p) and the normalized scaling factor (s/f 0 ):
p 9 1
cos p ¼ 9 þ 12x x2 þ x3 ; (3.126)
2 2 2
s 32 þ 48x 26x2 þ 6x3 12 x4
¼ q ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ffi: (3.127)
f0 81 216x þ 225x2 117x3 þ 129 x4 9 x5 þ 1 x6 4 2 4
When the distance d is in the range between 2f and 4f 0 , the polynomial 0
in the right side of Eq. (3.126) takes values between –1 and þ1, thus
leading to real values of the FRFT order p.
Figure 23 shows the evolution of these parameters as the distance d
between the lateral lenses and the central lens changes from 2f 0 to 4f 0 . It is
also interesting to note that, in addition to the advantage of fixed input
and output planes, this FRFT system provides a linear function p(d).
The nonlinear behavior of the polynomial at the right side of Eq. (3.126)
is canceled by the arccosine function, leading to linear behavior of the
function p(d) shown in Figure 23. Finally, it is also remarkable that the
4.0 2.0
3.8 1.8
3.6 1.6
Scaling factor (s/f ⬘)

3.4 1.4
FRFT order (p)
3.2 1.2
3.0 1.0
2.8 0.8
2.6 0.6
2.4 0.4
2.2 0.2
2.0 0.0
2.0 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 3.0 3.2 3.4 3.6 3.8 4.0
Ratio d/f ⬘
FIGURE 23 FRFT order (p) and normalized scaling factor (s/f 0 ) in the optical system in
Figure 22 versus the ratio d/f 0 , being d the distance from the lateral lenses to the
central lens, which takes values in the range (2f 0 ,4f 0 ).
d2
I O
d1 d1
FIGURE 24 FRFT optical system proposed in Cai (2002) to provide a fixed scaling
factor s.
system does not present divergences in the scaling factor. All these prop-
erties can make this simple optical system very useful for FRFT
applications.
7.2. FRFT Lens System with Fixed Scaling Factor

The Lohmann lens systems, as well as the other systems analyzed in the
previous section, all have a scaling parameter s that changes when chang-
ing the fractional order p. In some applications it can be interesting to have
a fixed scaling factor, so that a fixed input pattern can be used to compare
different orders. Cai (2002) proposed a simple two-lens system designed to
achieve this comparison. Figure 24 shows the proposed lens system, which
consists of two identical convergent lenses with focal lens f 0 , separated by a
distance d2, and free propagations of equal distance d1 are added on both
sides. The optical system is symmetrical and therefore produces an exact

FRFT between the input (I) and output (O) planes.
The ray transfer matrix of this system can be evaluated as
0 1 0 1
1 0 1 0
1 d1 B 1 C 1 d2 B 1 C 1 d1
MIO ¼ @ 1A 0 1 @ 0 1A 0 1 ;
0 1 f0 f
(3.128)
which has the following result:
0 1
2d1 þ d2 d1 d2 2d1 ðd1 þ d2 Þ d21 d2
B þ þ d þ
f 02 C
1 2d 1 2
B f0 f 02 f0 C
MIO ¼ BB C: (3.129)
d2 2f 0
2d1 þ d2 d1 d2 C
@ 1 þ A
f 02 f0 f 02
Therefore, this matrix verifies the FRFT condition (A ¼ D), and the
corresponding order ( p) is given by
p 2d1 þ d2 d1 d2
cosðfÞ ¼ cos p ¼1 þ 02 : (3.130)
2 f0 f
The scaling parameter (s) is given by
f 02 ð2d1 þ d2 Þ 2f 0 ðd1 þ d2 Þ þ d21 d2
s2 ¼ : (3.131)
2f 0 d2
If the following condition is fulfilled,
d1 ðd1 f 0 Þ þ f 02
d2 ¼ 2f 0 ; (3.132)
ð f 0 d1 Þ2 þ f 02
then the scaling factor adopts the constant value

s ¼ f 0; (3.133)
and the FRFT order is then given by the relation below:

p d1 ð2f 0 d1 Þ
cos p ¼ : (3.134)
2 ð f 0 d1 Þ2 þ f 02
We can analyze this system from the geometrical optics point of view.
The images in Figure 25a and 25b show two particular cases. In Figure 25a
d1 ¼ 0 and therefore the distance between lenses is d2 ¼ f 0 . It is the Fourier
transform lens system (p ¼ 1). It corresponds to propagation between the
focal planes F and F0 (a plane wave is transformed into a delta function, and a
point source into a plane wave). This is also a particular case of the second
FRFT lens system proposed by Lohmann. In Figure 19(b) the distance
(a) (b)
I f⬘ O 2f ⬘
I O
f⬘ f⬘
A A⬘
F F⬘
FIGURE 25 Two particular cases of the Cai-Wang system. (a) Propagation between
focal planes (p ¼ 1). (b) Propagation between antiprincipal planes (p ¼ 2).
between lenses is d2 ¼ 2f 0 , and the corresponding distance d1 is equal to f 0 .

Now the propagation is between anti-principal planes A and A0 , and it
corresponds to a FRFT order p ¼ 2. Let us note that this case is equivalent
to the 4f optical processor.
7.3. Anamorphic FRFT Optical Systems

The FRFT operation has been also extended to anamorphic optical systems,
resulting in different fractional orders along the two main axes of an optical
system (Mendlovic, 1995). This has been applied to the space-variant
simultaneous detection of several objects by the use of multiple anamor-
phic FRFT filters (Garcı́a, 1996) or for optical encryption in holographic
memories (Unnikrishnan, 2001). In addition, the anamorphic FRFT is a very
interesting tool to study laser-mode converters based on cylindrical lenses
(Beijersbergen, 1993; Courtial, 1999).
Figure 26 shows the direct generalization of the Lohmann-type systems
to anamorphic FRFT systems, with two possible cases. The simplest case is
shown in Figure 26a where the Lohmann type I system is used, but with
an anamorphic lens. In Figure 26b the anamorphic FRFT use the two
Lohmann–type systems: type I for the x direction, and type II for the
y direction. For both cases, it is straightforward to obtain the ray matrix
for the system, which is

^ MLohI ðpx Þ 0
Ma ¼ ; (3.135a)
0 MLohI ðpy Þ

M^ b ¼ MLohI ðpx Þ 0
; (3.135b)
0 MLohII ðpy Þ
with MLoh(p) denoting the corresponding FRFT 2 2 matrices in

Eqs. (3.106) and (3.107). Both systems provide the same fractional orders
in the x and y directions, given by
(a) (b)
y f⬘y
y f x⬘ Input f⬘x
f y⬘ plane x y
Input
plane x f⬘y
y
x
x
z
Anamorphic Anamorphic
FRFT plane FRFT plane
d
d d
d
FIGURE 26 Anamorphic FRFT transform system in x–y directions.
!
2 d 2 d
px ¼ arccos 1 0 py ¼ arccos 1 0 : (3.136)
p fx p fy
However, according to the discussion at the end of Section 5.3, the two
systems in Figure 26, although yielding equal values of the fractional
orders px and py, provide different scaling factors in the y direction.
We proposed another interesting anamorphic FRFT system (Moreno,
2006a) by using the nonorthogonal doublet described in Figure 9c. In that
doublet, rotating the relative angle a between the two cylindrical lenses
permits tuning of the two focal lengths of the equivalent orthogonal
doublet. Therefore, this simple system permits obtaining anamorphic
FRFTs with different fractional orders without having to move the input
or the output planes. For that purpose the Lohmann system I can be used,
with this anamorphic doublet in between. Figure 27 shows some calcu-
lated results corresponding to this anamorphic fractional Fourier trans-
former. We select the propagation distance d equal to the focal distance f 0 b
of the second cylindrical lens. We show two cases: when f 0 a ¼ f 0 b and
when f 0 a ¼ 2f 0 b. The images in Figure 27a and 27c show the evolution of
the orientation j of the equivalent orthogonal doublet as a function of the
relative angle a between the two cylindrical lenses. The angle j changes
continuously and therefore the equivalent doublet rotates with a accord-
ing to Figure 27a and 27c. The two focal lengths f 0 x and f 0 y of the equiva-
lent doublet also change according to Eq. (3.56), and their action is
produced along angles j and j þ 90 . Therefore, for each angle a two
different fractional orders px and py are obtained in orthogonal orienta-
tions at angles j and j þ 90 . For each value of the propagation distance d
there is a tunable range of the fractional Fourier orders, with the rotation
angle a as the tuning parameter.
The system does not provide a complete set of independent anamorphic
fractional orders, as, for instance, could be obtained with a programmable
(a) (b)
90 2.0
d = f⬘
Doublet orientation (degrees)

75 d = 0.8f⬘ py
1.5
AnFRFT orders
60
d = 0.6f⬘
45 1.0
d = 0.5f⬘
30
0.5
15 px
0 0.0
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 0 15 30 45 60 75 90
Relative angle a (degrees) Relative angle a (degrees)
(c) (d)
90 2.0
Doublet orientation (degrees)
75
1.5
d = f ⬘b
AnFRFT orders
60 py
d = 0.8f ⬘b
45 1.0 d = 0.6f ⬘b
30 d = 0.5f ⬘b
0.5
px
15
0 0.0
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 0 15 30 45 60 75 90
Relative angle a (degrees) Relative angle a (degrees)
FIGURE 27 Orientation j of the equivalent anamorphic doublet (a)–(c) and anamorphic fractional orders (AnFRFT orders) px and py (b)–(d), as
a function of the relative angle a between the two cylindrical lenses. For images (a) and (b): f 0 a ¼ f 0 b f 0 . For images (c) and (d) f 0 a ¼ 2f 0 b.
Fractional orders are calculated for propagation distances d ¼ f 0 , d ¼ 0.8f 0 , d ¼ 0.6f 0 , and d ¼ 0.5f 0 .
anamorphic liquid crystal lens (Moreno, 2003) or within the frame of other
more complete transformation systems (Rodrigo, 2007) (Rodrigo, 2009). In
addition, the object should be oriented with a rotation angle j to be aligned
with the two anamorphic axes of the equivalent doublet (or alternatively,
rotate the complete doublet to maintain a fixed equivalent orthogonal
doublet). However, its simplicity and the fact that it does not require
programmable lenses can make its use interesting for applications requir-
ing certain degree of tunability of anamorphic fractional orders without
moving the input and output planes. The selection of the distance d and the
focal lengths f 0 a and f 0 b of the cylindrical lenses defines the degree of
tunability of the anamorphic fractional orders provided by the system.
8. CONCLUSIONS
In summary, we have presented a review of some topics on optical Fourier
transform and FRFT systems on the basis of geometrical optics. For that
purpose, we presented a self-consistent derivation based on the ray trans-
fer matrix method. With this formalism we avoid the use of more compli-
cated diffraction integrals in the resolution of problems, such as the
location of Fourier or fractional Fourier–related planes, the scaling para-
meters, or the order of an FRFT. We presented the close connection of the
FRFT optical systems with the location of the corresponding cardinal
planes (principal, focal, and anti-principal planes). Finally, we included
several examples from the literature with various characteristics and
presented the extension to anamorphic optical systems.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank our colleagues, Jeffrey A. Davis, Felipe Mateos, and Marı́a M. Sánchez López, for
useful discussions. This work was developed with the financial support from the Spanish
Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia through grants No. FIS2009-13955-C02-02 and
No. FIS2007-60626.
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Chapter 3

Fractional Fourier Transforms

* Departamento de Ciencia de Materiales, Optica y Tecnologı́a Electrónica, Universidad Miguel Hernández,

5.5. Symmetrical Lens Systems 127

The Fourier transform (FT) is one of the most important mathematical

1994; Hwang, 2005; Ozatkas, 1995; Pellat-Finet,1994). The propagation

2. THE ABCD RAY TRANSFER MATRIX METHOD

FIGURE 1 Representation of a first-order optical system by means of a ray transfer

2.1. Physical Meaning of the ABCD Elements

FIGURE 2 Representation of optical system with ray transfer matrices characterized by

(b) Rear focal

FIGURE 3 Representation of optical system with ray transfer matrices characterized by

2.2. Basic Optical Components and Ray Transfer Matrices

This is just a particular case of the spherical refraction (spherical

Finally, the ray transfer matrix corresponding to a spherical mirror is

2.3. Cardinal Elements of the Optical System

FIGURE 5 Representation of the cardinal planes of a generic optical ABCD system.

This matrix shows a first property: Adding free propagations on either

2.3.1. Principal Planes

where determinant property AD – BC ¼ 1 is used.

2.3.2. Focal Planes

distance is f ¼ HF and the rear focal distance is f 0 ¼ H0 F0 . Using Eqs. (3.15)

2.3.3. Anti-Principal Planes

2.4. Lenses and Imaging

FIGURE 6 Scheme for building a lens.

The Gaussian imaging law is obtained by referring the distances to the

Therefore, the imaging condition (B ¼ 0) is fulfilled provided the

now the distances z ¼ OF and z0 ¼ F0 O0 . Now, the matrix multiplication

Therefore, the imaging condition (B ¼ 0) directly leads to the well-

and the magnification is given by

2.5. Self-Focusing Graded Index Ducts

(c) Full pitch grin lens

propagation between anti-principal planes [Eq. (3.23)] but in a system

3. EXTENSION TO ANAMORPHIC OPTICAL SYSTEMS

where Mx and My are the standard 2 2 ray matrices corresponding to the

to simplify 4 4 matrices of anamorphic systems.

Cylindrical lenses are particular cases of anamorphic lenses when

where we use the notation M ^ CL;a ð f 0 Þ to denote a cylindrical lens, with

(c) f⬘B f⬘a

FIGURE 9 (a) Anamorphic lens composed of an orthogonal cylindrical doublet, with

The simplest example that is not x-y independent is a cylindrical lens

Note that now the off-diagonal 2 2 matrices do not vanish, indicating

In general, the off-diagonal submatrices are nonzero, showing that the

The focal lengths of the equivalent orthogonal doublet range from f 0a

4. WAVE OPTICS PROPERTIES OF GEOMETRICAL SYSTEMS:

The presented ray transfer matrix formalism is used in many texts to

4.1. Connection between Wave and Ray Optics Formalisms

4.2. Exact Fourier Transform Optical System

FTf exp½ j2pxag ¼ dðu aÞ: (3.62b)

Here a is a constant value, u the spatial frequency, and FT denotes the

GðuÞ ¼ FTfgðxÞg ¼ gðxÞ exp½j2pxudx: (3.63)

In terms of optical radiation the delta function is equivalent to a point

4.3. Scale of the Optical Fourier Transform

g2 ðr2 Þ ¼ GðuÞju¼ r20 ¼ FTfg1 ðr1 Þg ¼ gðr1 Þ exp½j2prudr; (3.68)

4.4. Basic Fourier Transform Optical Lens Systems

4.5. Ray Transfer Matrix Factorizations

4.5.1. Exact and Inexact Imaging

In this decomposition, the matrix on the right corresponds to a perfect

4.5.2. The Collins Formula and Fresnel Diffraction Approximation

4.5.3. Inexact Fourier Transform Optical Systems

Therefore, the output amplitude is the Fourier transform of the input

4.6. Anamorphic Optical Fourier Transformers

4.6.1. Inexact Anamorphic Fourier Transformer

FIGURE 14 Inexact anamorphic Fourier transformer.

FTf exp½ j2pxag ¼ dðu aÞ: (3.62b)

GðuÞ ¼ FTfgðxÞg ¼ gðxÞ exp½j2pxudx: (3.63)

g2 ðr2 Þ ¼ GðuÞju¼ r20 ¼ FTfg1 ðr1 Þg ¼ gðr1 Þ exp½j2prudr; (3.68)