Method and system for measuring the curvature of an optical surface

1. A method of measuring the curvature of a surface of an object, comprising:

(a) illuminating the object surface with a light pattern having a known size to produce a virtual reflected image from the optical surface;

(b) measuring a size of the virtual reflected image produced by the optical surface from the light pattern;

(c) calculating a curvature of the optical surface from the known size of the light pattern and the size of the virtual reflected image; and

(d) adjusting the size of the light pattern; and

(e) repeating steps (b) and (c) for the light pattern having the adjusted size.

2. The method of claim 1 , further including suppressing any second or higher order reflections from the object surface from affecting the measurement of the size of the virtual reflected image.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein measuring a size of the virtual reflected image produced by the object surface from the light pattern comprises:

detecting the virtual reflected image with a charge coupled device (CCD) having a plurality of pixels; and

measuring the size from the pixels of the CCD that are illuminated by the virtual reflected image.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising ignoring any pixels illuminated by light having an intensity below a set threshold when measuring the size of the virtual reflected image.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the light pattern produces light which is absorbed by a material of the object.

6. A system for measuring the curvature of a surface of a object, comprising:

an image generator adapted to illuminate the object surface with a light pattern having a known size to produce a virtual reflected image from the object surface;

an image detector for detecting the virtual reflected image from the object surface; and

a controller adapted to calculate a curvature of the object surface from the known size of the light pattern and a size of the virtual reflected image detected by the image detector wherein the controller adjusts the size of the light pattern and the measurement of the curvature of the object is repeated for the light pattern having the adjusted size;

further comprising suppression means for suppressing all second and higher order reflections produced by the object from affecting the measurement of the size of the virtual reflected image.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the image detector is a charged-coupled device (CCD).

8. The system of claim 6 , wherein the suppression means includes specific criteria for image detection by the image detector which excludes at least some light from the second and higher order reflections from being detected.

9. The system of claim 6 , further comprising optical means for excluding at least some light from the second and higher order reflections from reaching the image detector.

10. The system of claim 6 , wherein the controller is further adapted to control one or more parameters of the image generator.

11. A system for measuring the curvature of a surface of a object, comprising:

an image generator adapted to illuminate the object surface with a light pattern having a known size to produce a virtual reflected image from the object surface;

an image detector for detecting the virtual reflected image from the object surface; and

a controller adapted to calculate a curvature of the object surface from the known size of the light pattern and a size of the virtual reflected image detected by the image detector wherein the controller adjusts the size of the light pattern and the measurement of the curvature of the object is repeated for the light pattern having the adjusted size;

wherein the image generator comprises a motion stage and a plurality of light sources affixed to the motion stage;

wherein the plurality of light sources each produce ultraviolet light.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of light sources each produce light having wavelengths absorbed by a material of the object.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the controller is adapted to control the motion stage to adjust the size of the light pattern from the image generator.