Layer-oriented adaptive optics for solar telescopes

First multiconjugate adaptive-optical (MCAO) systems are currently being installed on solar telescopes. The aim of these systems is to increase the corrected field of view with respect to conventional adaptive optics. However, this first generation is based on a star-oriented approach, and it is then difficult to increase the size of the field of view beyond 60-80?arc sec in diameter. We propose to implement the layer-oriented approach in solar MCAO systems by use of wide-field Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensors conjugated to the strongest turbulent layers. The wavefront distortions are averaged over a wide field: the signal from distant turbulence is attenuated and the tomographic reconstruction is thus done optically. The system consists of independent correction loops, which only need to account for local turbulence: the subapertures can be enlarged and the correction frequency reduced. Most importantly, a star-oriented MCAO system becomes more complex with increasing field size, while the layer-oriented approach benefits from larger fields and will therefore be an attractive solution for the future generation of solar MCAO systems.     

Real-time turbulence profiling with a pair of laser guide star Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensors for wide-field adaptive optics systems on large to extremely large telescopes

Real-time turbulence profiling is necessary to tune tomographic wavefront reconstruction algorithms for wide-field adaptive optics (AO) systems on large to extremely large telescopes, and to perform a variety of image post-processing tasks involving point-spread function reconstruction. This paper describes a computationally efficient and accurate numerical technique inspired by the slope detection and ranging (SLODAR) method to perform this task in real time from properly selected Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor measurements accumulated over a few hundred frames from a pair of laser guide stars, thus eliminating the need for an additional instrument. The algorithm is introduced, followed by a theoretical influence function analysis illustrating its impulse response to high-resolution turbulence profiles. Finally, its performance is assessed in the context of the Thirty Meter Telescope multi-conjugate adaptive optics system via end-to-end wave optics Monte Carlo simulations.     

Adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscope with integrated wide-field retinal imaging and tracking

We have developed a new, unified implementation of the adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscope (AOSLO) incorporating a wide-field line-scanning ophthalmoscope (LSO) and a closed-loop optical retinal tracker. AOSLO raster scans are deflected by the integrated tracking mirrors so that direct AOSLO stabilization is automatic during tracking. The wide-field imager and large-spherical-mirror optical interface design, as well as a large-stroke deformable mirror (DM), enable the AOSLO image field to be corrected at any retinal coordinates of interest in a field of >25 deg. AO performance was assessed by imaging individuals with a range of refractive errors. In most subjects, image contrast was measurable at spatial frequencies close to the diffraction limit. Closed-loop optical (hardware) tracking performance was assessed by comparing sequential image series with and without stabilization. Though usually better than 10 μm rms, or 0.03 deg, tracking does not yet stabilize to single cone precision but significantly improves average image quality and increases the number of frames that can be successfully aligned by software-based post-processing methods. The new optical interface allows the high-resolution imaging field to be placed anywhere within the wide field without requiring the subject to re-fixate, enabling easier retinal navigation and faster, more efficient AOSLO montage capture and stitching.     

Archeological optics: the very first known mirrors and lenses

The primary objective of the paper is to review histories of early known mirrors and lenses. Squinting/pinholes/slit apertures provided initial visual enhancements; quiet pools of water served as early mirrors. Manufactured mirrors appeared during the Stone Age 8000 years ago in Çatal Höyük in Anatolia within modern Turkey. The next generation mirrors were Mesopotamian and Egyptian. Oldest lenses, extraordinary in quality and complexity with built-in illusion, were in use in Egypt 4575 years ago. Simpler lens forms appeared between 3932(?)–3500 years ago, probably in the Levant/Eastern Mediterranean basin. The main outcomes are: (1) civilized societies had mirrors by about 4000 years ago, including China, India (e.g. Lothal) and New World societies. (2) Siberia and China had different mirror designs than Western areas. (3) Only crystalline materials were used in New World mirrors. (4) The author located an Egyptian lens in Boston having original lens design, this extended this lens' utilization by ca. 800 years to 3070–2656 years ago. These histories are fascinating!     

Optical analysis of spherical mirrors of telescopes: The lens-less Schmidt case

The light distribution on the focal surface of spheric mirrors designed for telescopes in the lens-less Schmidt configuration is calculated analytically using geometrical optics.This analysis was motivated by considerations of the design of the AUGER fluorescence detector [J. Abraham, et al., Nucl. Instr. and Meth. A 533 (2004) 50]. Its geometrical parameters are used in the examples.     

High-resolution adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscope with dual deformable mirrors

Adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscopes have been used to produce noninvasive views of the human retina. However, the range of aberration compensation has been limited by the choice of deformable mirror technology. We demonstrate that the use of dual deformable mirrors can effectively compensate large aberrations in the human eye while maintaining the quality of the retinal imagery. We verified experimentally that the use of dual deformable mirrors improved the dynamic range for correction of the wavefront aberrations compared with the use of the micro-electro-mechanical-system mirror alone and improved the quality of the wavefront correction compared with the use of the bimorph mirror alone. We also demonstrated that the large-stroke bimorph deformable mirror improved the capability for axial sectioning with the confocal imaging system by providing an easier way to move the focus axially through different layers of the retina.     

Adaptive optics sky coverage modeling for extremely large telescopes

A Monte Carlo sky coverage model for laser guide star adaptive optics systems was proposed by Clare and Ellerbroek [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 23, 418 (2006)]. We refine the model to include (i) natural guide star (NGS) statistics using published star count models, (ii) noise on the NGS measurements, (iii) the effect of telescope wind shake, (iv) a model for how the Strehl and hence NGS wavefront sensor measurement noise varies across the field, (v) the focus error due to imperfectly tracking the range to the sodium layer, (vi) the mechanical bandwidths of the tip-tilt (TT) stage and deformable mirror actuators, and (vii) temporal filtering of the NGS measurements to balance errors due to noise and servo lag. From this model, we are able to generate a TT error budget for the Thirty Meter Telescope facility narrow-field infrared adaptive optics system (NFIRAOS) and perform several design trade studies. With the current NFIRAOS design, the median TT error at the galactic pole with median seeing is calculated to be 65 nm or 1.8 mas rms.     

Adaptive optics with four laser guide stars: correction of the cone effect in large telescopes

We study the performance of an adaptive optics (AO) system with four laser guide stars (LGSs) and a natural guide star (NGS). The residual cone effect with four LGSs is obtained by a numerical simulation. This method allows the adaptive optics system to be extended toward the visible part of the spectrum without tomographic reconstruction of three-dimensional atmospheric perturbations, resolving the cone effect in the visible. Diffraction-limited images are obtained with 17-arc ms precision in median atmospheric conditions at wavelengths longer than 600 nm. The gain achievable with such a system operated on an existing AO system is studied. For comparison, performance in terms of achievable Strehl ratio is also computed for a reasonable system composed of a 40 x 40 Shack-Hartmann wave-front sensor optimized for the I band. Typical errors of a NGS wave front are computed by use of analytical formulas. With the NGS errors and the cone effect, the Strehl ratio can reach 0.45 at 1.25 microm under good-seeing conditions with the Nasmyth Adaptive Optics System (NAOS; a 14 x 14 subpupil wave-front sensor) at the Very Large Telescope and 0.8 with a 40 x 40 Shack-Hartmann wave-front sensor.     

Fabrication and measurement of low-stress membrane mirrors for adaptive optics

We have fabricated low-stress membranes from single-crystal silicon for use as deformable mirrors in adaptive optics. These membranes have lower stress than membranes made from silicon nitride or other materials and therefore are capable of greater deformation than previously used membrane mirrors. Membranes were assembled into devices by flip chip bonding to electrode chips with either 256 or 1024 electrodes. We have characterized devices with static and dynamic tests and compared their performance with an analytical model. We tracked the evolution of strain in the membrane during the device's fabrication and assembly and identified sources of stress and strain in this process. We identified boron dopant concentration as a critical determinant of intrinsic stress in the membrane.     

Multiconjugate adaptive optics for large telescopes: analytical control of the mirror shapes

We present an analytical algorithm for deriving the shapes of the deformable mirrors to be used for multiconjugate adaptive correction on a large telescope. The algorithm is optimal in the limit where the overlap of the wave-front contributions from relevant atmospheric layers probed by the guide stars is close to the size of the pupil. The fundamental principle for correction is based on a minimization of the sum of the residual power spectra of the phase fluctuations seen by the guide stars after correction. On the basis of the expressions for the mirror shapes, so-called layer transfer functions describing the distribution of the correction of a single atmospheric layer among the deformable mirrors and the resulting correction of that layer have been derived. It is shown that for five guide stars distributed in a regular cross, two- and three-mirror correction will be possible only up to a maximum frequency defined by the largest separation of the conjugate altitudes of the mirrors and by the angular separation of the guide stars. The performance of the algorithm is investigated in the K band by using a standard seven-layer atmosphere. We present results obtained for two guide-star configurations: a continuous distribution within a given angular radius and a five-star cross pattern with a given angular arm length. The wave-front fluctuations are subjected to correction using one, two, and three deformable mirrors. The needed mirror dynamic range is derived as required root-mean-square stroke and actuator pitch. Finally the performance is estimated in terms of the Strehl ratio obtained by the correction as a function of field angle. No noise has been included in the present analysis, and the guide stars are assumed to be at infinity.     

Method for deriving the complete solution set for three-mirror anastigmatic telescopes with two spherical mirrors

The "plate-diagram" method of quantifying and manipulating the Seidel aberrations of an optical system has been used to develop a procedure that has successfully determined the complete solution set of three-mirror anastigmats in which two surfaces are left strictly spherical. The procedure also readily identified solutions in which the Petzval sum is zero, and four distinct families of flat-field three-mirror anastigmats with two mirrors strictly spherical have thus been found. The success of the method is strong support for the argument that algebraic approaches to optical design can yield results distinctly superior to currently favored optimization-based design methods, at least for some types of optical systems.     

Removing static aberrations from the active optics system of a wide-field telescope

The wavefront sensor in active and adaptive telescopes is usually not in the optical path toward the scientific detector. It may generate additional wavefront aberrations, which have to be separated from the errors due to the telescope optics. The aberrations that are not rotationally symmetric can be disentangled from the telescope aberrations by a series of measurements taken in the center of the field, with the wavefront sensor at different orientation angles with respect to the focal plane. This method has been applied at the VLT Survey Telescope on the ESO Paranal observatory.     

Numerical simulations of multiconjugate adaptive optics wave-front reconstruction on giant telescopes

We present sample Monte Carlo simulation results to illustrate the trends in multiconjugate adaptive optics (MCAO) performance as the telescope aperture diameter increases from 8 to 32 m with all other first-order system parameters held constant. The MCAO system considered includes three deformable mirrors, a 1-arc min square field of view, and five wave-front-sensing references consisting of either natural guide stars or laser guide stars at a range of either 30 or 90 km. The rms residual wave-front error decreases slowly with increasing aperture diameter with natural guide stars, whereas performance degrades significantly with increasing aperture diameter for laser guide stars at 30 km if the number of guide stars is held fixed. Performance with laser guide stars at 90 km is a weak function of telescope aperture diameter in the range from 8 to 32 m, with rms wave-front errors no more than 20% greater than the corresponding natural guide-star case for the same level of wave-front sensor's measurement noise.     

Comparative analysis of Zernike aberrations generation with deformable mirrors for ocular adaptive optics

The micromachined membrane deformable mirror (MMDM) and piezoelectric deformable mirror (PDM) are two types of cost-effective deformable mirrors (DMs) that are widely used in ocular adaptive optics. In the current study, a 59ch MMDM and a 37ch PDM are tested and compared in generation of Zernike aberrations which are the most dominant of the human eye. The results reveal that although PDM performs better in larger scope, both DMs have almost similar performance if the individual generation coefficient is within the range of ±1 µm.     

Microscopic surface structure of C/SiC composite mirrors for space cryogenic telescopes

We report on the microscopic surface structure of carbon-fiber-reinforced silicon carbide (C/SiC) composite mirrors that have been improved for the Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA) and other cooled telescopes. The C/SiC composite consists of carbon fiber, silicon carbide, and residual silicon. Specific microscopic structures are found on the surface of the bare C/SiC mirrors after polishing. These structures are considered to be caused by the different hardness of those materials. The roughness obtained for the bare mirrors is 20 nm rms for flat surfaces and 100 nm rms for curved surfaces. It was confirmed that a SiSiC slurry coating is effective in reducing the roughness to 2 nm rms. The scattering properties of the mirrors were measured at room temperature and also at 95 K. No significant change was found in the scattering properties through cooling, which suggests that the microscopic surface structure is stable with changes in temperature down to cryogenic values. The C/SiC mirror with the SiSiC slurry coating is a promising candidate for the SPICA telescope.     

Phasing segmented mirrors: a modification of the Keck narrow-band technique and its application to extremely large telescopes

Future telescopes with diameters greater than 10 m, usually referred to as extremely large telescopes (ELTs), will employ segmented mirrors made up of hundreds or even thousands of segments, with tight constraints on the piston errors between individual segments. The 10-m Keck telescopes are routinely phased with the narrow-band phasing technique. This is a variation of the Shack-Hartmann wave-front sensor in which the signal is the correlation between individual subimages and simulated images. We have investigated the applicability of this technique to ELTs, and in the process we have developed what to our knowledge is a new algorithm in which each subimage provides on its own a piston-dependent value. We also discuss an alternative algorithm to resolve the lambda ambiguity that allows detection of problematic cases, and a modification of the singular-value-decomposition procedure used to phase the whole mirror, using weightings on individual measurement errors. By means of simulations we show that the modified technique shows improved performance and that it can work with sufficient precision on telescopes as large as 100 m.     

Active control systems for large segmented optical mirrors

A new generation of optical telescopes is on the drawing board. These will be true giants with primary mirrors having a diameter of up to 100 metres. The technology that will enable this revolution to take place was developed at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii, where the world's largest segmented mirrors are in daily use. This article looks at how the W. M. Keck Observatory proved the mirror technology that will be behind this new generation of telescopes     

Comparison of adaptive optics and phase-conjugate mirrors for correction of aberrations in double-pass amplifiers

Correction of birefringence-induced effects (depolarization and bipolar focusing) were achieved in double-pass amplifiers by use of a Faraday rotator between the laser rod and the retroreflecting optic. A necessary condition was ray retrace. Retrace was limited by imperfect conjugate-beam fidelity and by nonreciprocal refractive indices. We compared various retroreflectors: stimulated-Brillouin-scatter phase-conjugate mirrors (PCMs), PCMs with rod-to-PCM relay imaging (IPCM), IPCMs with astigmatism-correcting adaptive optics, and all-adaptive-optic imaging variable-radius mirrors. Results with flash-lamp-pumped, Nd:Cr:GSGG double-pass amplifiers showed the superiority of adaptive optics over nonlinear optic retroreflectors in terms of maximum average power, improved beam quality, and broader oscillator pulse duration/bandwidth operating range. Hybrid PCM-adaptive optics retroreflectors yielded intermediate power/beam-quality results.