neardiffractionlimited
Near diffraction-limited describes an optical system whose resolving power and image quality come close to the fundamental diffraction limit, but does not necessarily reach it. In such systems the point-spread function is dominated by diffraction with only small residual aberrations.
The diffraction limit is a consequence of light's wave nature. For a circular aperture, the smallest resolvable
Closeness to the limit is often quantified by the Strehl ratio, the peak intensity of the system's
In practice, achieving near-diffraction-limited performance requires controlling aberrations, alignment, and environmental factors. Sources of deviation include
Applications include astronomy with adaptive optics to approach diffraction limit under real-world seeing, and high-NA optical