Design considerations for low-light level low-Fresnel number optical systems.

Low-Fresnel number optical systems exhibit significant diffraction effects that cause a shift in the peaks of on-axis irradiance away from the geometric focal point. This is currently interpreted as a change of the focal length of an optical system, leading optical system designers to compensate for the effect by assuming the image plane is coincident with the peak of on-axis irradiance. While this may be an appropriate interpretation for certain applications, I show that despite the shift in peak irradiance away from the geometrical focal point, a change in a system's optical power will not increase the on-axis irradiance at that distance. This is important for low-light level applications where it is necessary to mitigate diffraction induced transmission losses. I also show that low-Fresnel number systems have increased tolerance on system power at the geometrical focal point and as a result are inherently achromatic.

Study of a MEMS-based Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor with adjustable pupil sampling for astronomical adaptive optics.

We introduce a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor for adaptive optics that enables dynamic control of the spatial sampling of an incoming wavefront using a segmented mirror microelectrical mechanical systems (MEMS) device. Unlike a conventional lenslet array, subapertures are defined by either segments or groups of segments of a mirror array, with the ability to change spatial pupil sampling arbitrarily by redefining the segment grouping. Control over the spatial sampling of the wavefront allows for the minimization of wavefront reconstruction error for different intensities of guide source and different atmospheric conditions, which in turn maximizes an adaptive optics system's delivered Strehl ratio. Requirements for the MEMS devices needed in this Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor are also presented.

Experimental results of ground-layer and tomographic wavefront reconstruction from multiple laser guide stars.

We describe results from the first multi-laser wavefront sensing system designed to support tomographic modes of adaptive optics (AO). The system, now operating at the 6.5 m MMT telescope in Arizona, creates five beacons by Rayleigh scattering of laser beams at 532 nm integrated over a range from 20 to 29 km by dynamic refocus of the telescope optics. The return light is analyzed by a Shack-Hartmann sensor that places all five beacons on a single detector, with electronic shuttering to implement the beacon range gate. A separate high-order Shack-Hartmann sensor records simultaneous measurements of wavefronts from a natural star. From open-loop measurements, we find the average beacon wavefront gives a good estimate of ground layer aberration. We present results of full tomographic wavefront analysis, enabled by supplementing the laser data with simultaneous fast image motion measurements from three stars in the field. We describe plans for an early demonstration at the MMT of closed-loop ground layer AO, and later tomographic AO.

Bringing the visible universe into focus with Robo-AO.

The angular resolution of ground-based optical telescopes is limited by the degrading effects of the turbulent atmosphere. In the absence of an atmosphere, the angular resolution of a typical telescope is limited only by diffraction, i.e., the wavelength of interest, λ, divided by the size of its primary mirror's aperture, D. For example, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), with a 2.4-m primary mirror, has an angular resolution at visible wavelengths of ~0.04 arc seconds. The atmosphere is composed of air at slightly different temperatures, and therefore different indices of refraction, constantly mixing. Light waves are bent as they pass through the inhomogeneous atmosphere. When a telescope on the ground focuses these light waves, instantaneous images appear fragmented, changing as a function of time. As a result, long-exposure images acquired using ground-based telescopes--even telescopes with four times the diameter of HST--appear blurry and have an angular resolution of roughly 0.5 to 1.5 arc seconds at best. Astronomical adaptive-optics systems compensate for the effects of atmospheric turbulence. First, the shape of the incoming non-planar wave is determined using measurements of a nearby bright star by a wavefront sensor. Next, an element in the optical system, such as a deformable mirror, is commanded to correct the shape of the incoming light wave. Additional corrections are made at a rate sufficient to keep up with the dynamically changing atmosphere through which the telescope looks, ultimately producing diffraction-limited images. The fidelity of the wavefront sensor measurement is based upon how well the incoming light is spatially and temporally sampled. Finer sampling requires brighter reference objects. While the brightest stars can serve as reference objects for imaging targets from several to tens of arc seconds away in the best conditions, most interesting astronomical targets do not have sufficiently bright stars nearby. One solution is to focus a high-power laser beam in the direction of the astronomical target to create an artificial reference of known shape, also known as a 'laser guide star'. The Robo-AO laser adaptive optics system, employs a 10-W ultraviolet laser focused at a distance of 10 km to generate a laser guide star. Wavefront sensor measurements of the laser guide star drive the adaptive optics correction resulting in diffraction-limited images that have an angular resolution of ~0.1 arc seconds on a 1.5-m telescope.

Concept for a laser guide beacon Shack-Hartmann wave-front sensor with dynamically steered subapertures.

We describe an innovative implementation of the Shack-Hartmann wave-front sensor that is designed to correct the perspective elongation of a laser guide beacon in adaptive optics. Subapertures are defined by the segments of a deformable mirror rather than by a conventional lenslet array. A bias tilt on each segment separates the beacon images on the sensor's detector. One removes the perspective elongation by dynamically driving each segment with a predetermined open-loop signal that would, in the absence of atmospheric wave-front aberration, keep the corresponding beacon image centered on the subaperture's optical axis.