Wavefront generated by reflection of a plane wave from a conic section

We use the general solution of the eikonal equation due to Stavroudis to analyze the light propagation of an incident plane wave that is reflected off-axis from a surface of revolution generated by a conic section. Specifically, a general, explicit expression for the k-function associated with reflection of a plane wave is evaluated for the geometry of the off-axis conic mirror and the resulting k-function is used, following Stavroudis and coworkers, to evaluate the reflected wavefronts and caustic surfaces. This paper presents a new application of the k-function formalism to a practical configuration, without any simplifying rotational or translational symmetry, where the wavefronts and caustics in the focal region will be analyzed. © 2008 Copyright SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering.