全光路像差校正自适应光学系统中共模波前传感器标定方法研究

根据光波在介质中的传播规律,首先详细分析了全光路像差校正自适应光学系统的工作原理,然后对常规方法标定共模波前传感器后的系统校正残余误差作了分析,并从校正残余误差和操作的简易程度两个方面分析了常规方法标定共模波前传感器存在的缺点,最后针对全光路像差校正自适应光学系统的特点,提出了两种新的共模波前传感器标定方法,详细推导了两种方法标定共模波前传感器后全系统的校正残余误差.结果显示,两种方法标定共模波前传感器后,其校正残余误差只与常规方法标定共模波前传感器后系统的校正残余误差中的一种误差有关.     

High-resolution retinal imaging with micro adaptive optics system

Based on the dynamic characteristics of human eye aberration, a microadaptive optics retina imaging system set is established for real-time wavefront measurement and correction. This paper analyzes the working principles of a 127-unit Hartmann-Shack wavefront sensor and a 37-channel micromachine membrane deformable mirror adopted in the system. The proposed system achieves wavefront reconstruction through the adaptive centroid detection method and the mode reconstruction algorithm of Zernike polynomials, so that human eye aberration can be measured accurately. Meanwhile, according to the adaptive optics aberration correction control model, a closed-loop iterative aberration correction algorithm based on Smith control is presented to realize efficient and real-time correction of human eye aberration with different characteristics, and characteristics of the time domain of the system are also optimized. According to the experiment results tested on a USAF 1951 standard resolution target and a living human retina (subject ZHY), the resolution of the system can reach 3.6?LP/mm, and the human eye wavefront aberration of 0.728λ (λ=785?nm) can be corrected to 0.081λ in root mean square (RMS) so as to achieve the diffraction limit (Strehl ratio is 0.866), then high-resolution retina images are obtained.     

Adaptive optics in microscopy

The imaging properties of optical microscopes are often compromised by aberrations that reduce image resolution and contrast. Adaptive optics technology has been employed in various systems to correct these aberrations and restore performance. This has required various departures from the traditional adaptive optics schemes that are used in astronomy. This review discusses the sources of aberrations, their effects and their correction with adaptive optics, particularly in confocal and two-photon microscopes. Different methods of wavefront sensing, indirect aberration measurement and aberration correction devices are discussed. Applications of adaptive optics in the related areas of optical data storage, optical tweezers and micro/nanofabrication are also reviewed.     

Correcting the aero-optical aberration of the supersonic mixing layer with adaptive optics: concept validation

We describe an adaptive optics (AO) system for correcting the aero-optical aberration of the supersonic mixing layer and test its performance with numerical simulations. The AO system is based on the measurement of distributed Strehl ratios and the stochastic parallel gradient descent (SPGD) algorithm. The aero-optical aberration is computed by the direct numerical simulation of a two-dimensional supersonic mixing layer. When the SPGD algorithm is applied directly, the AO cannot give effective corrections. This paper suggests two strategies to improve the performance of the SPGD algorithm for use in aero-optics. The first one is using an iteration process keeping finite memory, and the second is based on the frozen hypothesis. With these modifications, the performance of AO is improved and the aero-optical aberration can be corrected to some noticeable extent. The possibility of experimental implementation is also discussed.     

Adaptive optics system for investigation of the effect of the aberration dynamics of the human eye on steady-state accommodation control

It is now known that defocus is not the only aberration in the eye that exhibits dynamic behavior during fixation. It is currently unknown what effects, if any, the dynamics of these other aberrations have on steady-state accommodation control. We constructed an adaptive optics system to serve as a tool for future investigations in this area. The system has several design features of interest, including automated precompensation of defocus and astigmatism and a method to bypass a scanner used to reduce speckle. It also has the facility to measure the eye's aberrations independent of the aberration manipulation device-a 37-actuator membrane deformable mirror. Coherence function analysis was used to assess the deformable mirror performance in terms of coupling between Zernike modes. Modes beyond third radial order showed severe coupling. Pilot data were collected on one subject to demonstrate the utility of this system in steady-state accommodation studies. The value of the system for future work in this area is discussed.     

Low-order adaptive deformable mirror

We report the main parameters of a nine-electrode bimorph piezoelectric adaptive mirror designed to correct low-order aberrations. We describe measurements of the control coefficients for defocus, astigmatism, pure coma, and spherical aberration of this mirror and the temperature stability of its profile. The performance of a simple adaptive optical system for imaging through laboratory-generated turbulence is investigated. This low-order device is suitable for small (<1-m-diameter) telescopes and for nonastronomical applications of adaptive optics.     

Liquid-crystal adaptive optics based on feedback interferometry for high-resolution retinal imaging

A novel, to our knowledge, adaptive optical imaging system for high-resolution retinal imaging is described. The system is based on a feedback interferometer, in which two-dimensional output fringe intensity from a Mach-Zehnder interferometer with large radial shear is fed back, with the help of a video projector connected with a CCD camera, to an optically addressed phase-only liquid-crystal spatial light modulator. Experiments to verify the system performance have been conducted by use of an artificial eye consisting of a lens, an aberration plate, and a resolution test target. We observed that an image of the test target (mimicking a retina) blurred by the aberration plate (mimicking ocular aberrations) was successfully restored immediately after our adaptive optics system was activated.     

Dynamic eye model for adaptive optics testing

An artificial dynamic eye model is proposed. The prototype enabled us to introduce temporal variations in defocus and spherical aberration, resembling those typically found in the human eye. The eye model consisted of a meniscus lens together with a modal liquid crystal lens with controllable focus. A diffuser placed at a fixed distance from the lenses acted as the artificial retina. Developed software allowed the user to precisely control the dynamic generation of aberrations. In addition, different refractive errors could simultaneously be emulated by varying the distance between the components of the model. The artificial eye was first used as a dynamic generator of both spherical aberration and defocus, imitating the behavior of a real eye. The artificial eye was implemented in an adaptive optics system designed for the human eye. The system incorporated an electrostatic deformable mirror and a Hartmann-Shack wavefront sensor. Results with and without real time closed-loop aberration correction were obtained. The use of the dynamic artificial eye could be quite useful for testing and evaluating adaptive optics instruments for ophthalmic applications.     

Discrete-time model of an adaptive optics systems

The standard adaptive optics system can be viewed as a sampled-data feedback system with a continuous-time disturbance (the incident wavefront from the observed object) and discrete-time measurement noise. A common measure of the performance of adaptive optics systems is the time average of the pupil variance of the residual wavefront. This performance can be related to that of a discrete-time system obtained by lifting the incident and residual wavefronts. The corresponding discrete-time model is derived, and the computation of the adaptive optics system residual variance is based on that model. The predicted variance of a single mode of an adaptive optics system is shown to be the same as that obtained via simulation (as expected). The discrete-time prediction is also shown to be superior to a continuous-time approximation of the adaptive optics system.     

Demonstration of high-energy 2 omega (526.5 nm) operation on the National Ignition Facility Laser System

A single beamline of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) has been operated at a wavelength of 526.5 nm (2 omega) by frequency converting the fundamental 1053 nm (1 omega) wavelength with an 18.2 mm thick type-I potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) second-harmonic generator (SHG) crystal. Second-harmonic energies of up to 17.9 kJ were measured at the final optics focal plane with a conversion efficiency of 82%. For a similarly configured 192-beam NIF, this scales to a total 2 omega energy of 3.4 MJ full NIF equivalent (FNE).     

Fundamental limits on isoplanatic correction with multiconjugate adaptive optics

We investigate the performance of a general multiconjugate adaptive optics (MCAO) system in which signals from multiple reference beacons are used to drive several deformable mirrors in the optical beam train. Taking an analytic approach that yields a detailed view of the effects of low-order aberration modes defined over the metapupil, we show that in the geometrical optics approximation, N deformable mirrors conjugated to different ranges can be driven to correct these modes through order N with unlimited isoplanatic angle, regardless of the distribution of turbulence along the line of sight. We find, however, that the optimal deformable mirror shapes are functions of target range, so the best compensation for starlight is in general not the correction that minimizes the wave-front aberration in a laser guide beacon. This introduces focal anisoplanatism in the wave-front measurements that can be overcome only through the use of beacons at several ranges. We derive expressions for the number of beacons required to sense the aberration to arbitrary order and establish necessary and sufficient conditions on their geometry for both natural and laser guide stars. Finally, we derive an expression for the residual uncompensated error by mode as a function of field angle, target range, and MCAO system geometry.     

New modal wave-front sensor: application to adaptive confocal fluorescence microscopy and two-photon excitation fluorescence microscopy

Confocal and multiphoton microscopes are particularly sensitive to specimen- or system-induced aberrations, which result in decreased resolution and signal-to-noise ratio. The inclusion of an adaptive optics correction system could help overcome this limitation and restore diffraction-limited performance, but such a system requires a suitable method of wave-front measurement. By extending the concept of a modal wave-front sensor previously described by Neil et al. [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 17, 1098-1107 (2000)], we present a new sensor capable of measuring directly the Zernike aberration modes introduced by a specimen. This modal sensor is particularly suited to applications in three-dimensional microscopy because of its inherent axial selectivity; only those wave fronts originating in the focal region contribute to the measured signal. Four wave-front sensor configurations are presented and their input response is characterized. Sensitivity matrices and axial responses are presented.     

Large-field-of-view, modular, stabilized, adaptive-optics-based scanning laser ophthalmoscope

We describe the design and performance of an adaptive optics retinal imager that is optimized for use during dynamic correction for eye movements. The system incorporates a retinal tracker and stabilizer, a wide-field line scan scanning laser ophthalmoscope (SLO), and a high-resolution microelectromechanical-systems-based adaptive optics SLO. The detection system incorporates selection and positioning of confocal apertures, allowing measurement of images arising from different portions of the double pass retinal point-spread function (psf). System performance was excellent. The adaptive optics increased the brightness and contrast for small confocal apertures by more than 2x and decreased the brightness of images obtained with displaced apertures, confirming the ability of the adaptive optics system to improve the psf. The retinal image was stabilized to within 18 microm 90% of the time. Stabilization was sufficient for cross-correlation techniques to automatically align the images.     

Adaptive optics for in-orbit aberration correction: spherical aberration feasibility study

We investigate the feasibility of using an adaptive mirror for in-orbit aberration corrections. The advantage of an in situ aberration correction of optical components in the space environment is that the mirror shape can be adjusted in an iterative fashion until the best image is obtained. Using the actuator spacing, corresponding to one half of the Nyquist frequency, the Strehl ratio of the corrected wave front improves to 0.95 when the mirror is fabricated with 6.5 waves of spherical aberration. The Strehl ratio decreases to 0.86 when the number of actuators is reduced by a factor of 4, in a two-dimensional adaptive optics model.     

Aberration measurement of projection optics in lithographic tools by use of an alternating phase-shifting mask

As a critical dimension shrinks, the degradation in image quality caused by wavefront aberrations of projection optics in lithographic tools becomes a serious problem. It is necessary to establish a technique for a fast and accurate in situ aberration measurement. We introduce what we believe to be a novel technique for characterizing the aberrations of projection optics by using an alternating phase-shifting mask. The even aberrations, such as spherical aberration and astigmatism, and the odd aberrations, such as coma, are extracted from focus shifts and image displacements of the phase-shifted pattern, respectively. The focus shifts and the image displacements are measured by a transmission image sensor. The simulation results show that, compared with the accuracy of the previous straightforward measurement technique, the accuracy of the coma measurement increases by more than 30% and the accuracy of the spherical-aberration measurement increases by approximately 20%.     

Turbulence-induced zernike aberrations of optical wavefronts in partial adaptive compensation

Abstract

The residual phase error after correction for turbulence-induced phase aberrations by a partially compensating adaptive optics system with a laser guide star (LGS) as reference is computed by using the phase expansion on the Zernike polynomials. To get the most from the compensation, the limitation due to the actuator spacing of a deformable mirror, temporal lag and angular separation between the object and the LGS (anisoplanatism effect) have been analysed in this paper. If Fried's parameter r₀ is 10.7 cm, the temporal lag should be less than 2ms for a sodium LGS. Also the higher the aberration radial degree is, the less the actuator spacing is required. To correct for aberration of radial degree higher than 4 (if r₀ is 10.7 cm), the actuator spacing should be less than 300mm.     

Optimization of star-oriented and layer-oriented wavefront sensing concepts for ground layer adaptive optics

Multiconjugate adaptive optics is one of the major challenges in adaptive optics. It requires the measurement of the volumic distribution of the turbulence. Two wavefront sensing (WFS) concepts have been proposed to perform the wavefront analysis for such systems: the star-oriented and layer-oriented approaches. We give a performance analysis and a comparison of these two concepts in the framework of the simplest of the multi-guide-star adaptive optics systems, that is, ground layer adaptive optics. A phase-related criterion is proposed to assess analytically the performance of both concepts. This study highlights the main advantages and drawbacks of each WFS concept and shows how it is possible to optimize the concepts with respect to the signal to noise ratio on the phase measurement. A comparison of their optimized versions is provided and shows that one can expect very similar performance with the two optimized concepts.     

National Ignition Facility system alignment

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is the world's largest optical instrument, comprising 192 37?cm square beams, each generating up to 9.6?kJ of 351?nm laser light in a 20?ns beam precisely tailored in time and spectrum. The Facility houses a massive (10?m diameter) target chamber within which the beams converge onto an ～1?cm size target for the purpose of creating the conditions needed for deuterium/tritium nuclear fusion in a laboratory setting. A formidable challenge was building NIF to the precise requirements for beam propagation, commissioning the beam lines, and engineering systems to reliably and safely align 192 beams within the confines of a multihour shot cycle. Designing the facility to minimize drift and vibration, placing the optical components in their design locations, commissioning beam alignment, and performing precise system alignment are the key alignment accomplishments over the decade of work described herein. The design and positioning phases placed more than 3000 large (2.5?m×2?m×1?m) line-replaceable optics assemblies to within ±1?mm of design requirement. The commissioning and alignment phases validated clear apertures (no clipping) for all beam lines, and demonstrated automated laser alignment within 10?min and alignment to target chamber center within 44?min. Pointing validation system shots to flat gold-plated x-ray emitting targets showed NIF met its design requirement of ±50?μm rms beam pointing to target chamber. Finally, this paper describes the major alignment challenges faced by the NIF Project from inception to present, and how these challenges were met and solved by the NIF design and commissioning teams.     

Image compensation in the presence of thermal blooming

The effect of image compensation in viewing extended targets through thermal blooming is discussed. A wave-optics propagation code simulating multiple point sources and a low-bandwidth return-wave adaptive optics system is used to determine the steady-state thermally induced phase distortions and wave-front correction through various Zernike modes. Incoherent point spread functions for the isoplanatic regions are generated and convolved with the appropriate object field to reconstruct the extended target image. Image distortion, degradation in peak irradiance, and adaptive optics loop stability are discussed with respect to degree of correction and wavelength sensitivity.