Apodization

Apodization is an optical filtering technique. Its literal translation is 'removing the foot'. It is the technical term for changing the shape of a mathematical function, an electrical signal, an optical transmission or a mechanical structure. In optics, it is primarily used to remove Airy disks caused by diffraction around an intensity peak, improving the focus. Apodization is an optical filtering technique. Its literal translation is 'removing the foot'. It is the technical term for changing the shape of a mathematical function, an electrical signal, an optical transmission or a mechanical structure. In optics, it is primarily used to remove Airy disks caused by diffraction around an intensity peak, improving the focus. The term apodization is used frequently in publications on Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) signal processing. An example of apodization is the use of the Hann window in the fast Fourier transform analyzer to smooth the discontinuities at the beginning and end of the sampled time record. An apodizing filter can be used in digital audio processing instead of the more common brickwall filters, in order to avoid the pre-ringing that the latter introduces. In optical design jargon, an apodization function is used to purposely change the input intensity profile of an optical system, and may be a complicated function to tailor the system to certain properties. Usually it refers to a non-uniform illuminationor transmission profile that approaches zero at the edges. Since side lobes of the Airy disk are responsible for degrading the image, techniques for suppressing them are utilized. In case the imaging beam has Gaussian distribution, when the truncation ratio (the ratio of the diameter of the Gaussian beam to the diameter of the truncating aperture) is set to 1, the side-lobes become negligible and the beam profile becomes purely Gaussian. The measured beam profile of such imaging system is shown and compared to the modeled beam profile in the Figure on the right. The diaphragm of a photo camera is not strictly an example of apodization, since the stop doesn't produce a smooth transition to zero intensity, nor does it provide shaping of the intensity profile (beyond the obvious all-or-nothing, 'top hat' transmission of its aperture). The Minolta/Sony Smooth Trans Focus 135mm f/2.8 lens, however, is a special lens design introduced in 1999, which accomplishes this by utilizing a concave neutral-gray tinted lens element as apodization filter, thereby producing a pleasant bokeh. The same optical effect can be achieved combining depth-of-field bracketing with multi exposure, as implemented in the Minolta Maxxum 7's STF function. In 2014, Fujifilm announced a lens utilizing a similar apodization filter in the Fujinon XF 56mm F1.2 R APD lens. In 2017, Sony introduced the E-mount full-frame lens Sony FE 100mm F2.8 STF GM OSS (SEL-100F28GM) based on the same optical Smooth Trans Focus principle.