Multiring pure-phase binary optical elements to extend depth of focus

Multiring pure-phase binary optical elements (BOEs) are widely used to extend the depth of focus (DOF) in many optical applications. Although researchers have designed various BOEs to extend the DOF, few theories and experiments have been reported to validate the performances of different N-ring pure-phase BOEs to realize the DOF as long as possible. In this paper, aberration theory is used to obtain the simple and straightforward initial phase, and a novel modified Gerchberg–Saxton algorithm is presented for generating N-ring 0-π-phase BOEs to optimally extend the DOF. Theoretical, numerical, and experimental results demonstrate that the DOF can be extended with increased N in the same NA.