Related papers: MEMS practice, from the lab to the telescope

Astronomical telescopes suffer from a tradeoff between field of view (FoV) and image resolution: increasing the FoV leads to an optical field that is under-sampled by the science camera. This work presents a novel computational imaging…

The MMT Adaptive Optics exoPlanet Characterization System (MAPS) is a comprehensive update to the first generation MMT adaptive optics system (MMTAO), designed to produce a facility class suite of instruments whose purpose is to image…

During the commissioning of the Gemini MCAO System (GeMS), we had the opportunity to obtain data with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS), the most utilised instrument at Gemini South Observatory, in March and May 2012. Several…

Active optical metasurfaces are rapidly emerging as a major frontier in photonics research, development, and commercialization. They promise compact, light-weight, and energy-efficient reconfigurable optical systems with unprecedented…

Optical beams and starlight distorted by atmospheric turbulence can be corrected with adaptive optics systems to enable efficient coupling into single-mode fibers. Deformable mirrors, used to flatten the wavefront in astronomical…

Varifocal lenses, conventionally implemented by changing the axial distance between multiple optical elements, have a wide range of applications in imaging and optical beam scanning. The use of conventional bulky refractive elements makes…

The Gemini Multi-conjugate adaptive optics System (GeMS) at the Gemini South telescope in Cerro Pach{\'o}n is the first sodium-based multi-Laser Guide Star (LGS) adaptive optics system. It uses five LGSs and two deformable mirrors to…

We describe a new concept for a MEMS-based active spatial filter for astronomical spectroscopy. The goal of this device is to allow the use of a diffraction-limited spectrometer on a seeing limited observation at improved throughput over a…

The Gemini Multi-conjugate adaptive optics System (GeMS) is a facility instrument for the Gemini-South telescope. It delivers uniform, near-diffraction-limited image quality at near-infrared wavelengths over a 2 arcminute field of view.…

We have developed a calibration system based on a micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) mirror that is capable of delivering an optical beam over a wavelength range of 180 -- 2000 nm (0.62 -- 6.89 eV) in a sub-Kelvin environment. This…

We describe KAPAO, our project to develop and deploy a low-cost, remote-access, natural guide star adaptive optics (AO) system for the Pomona College Table Mountain Observatory (TMO) 1-meter telescope. We use a commercially available…

An adaptive optics system with a single deformable mirror is being implemented on the THEMIS 90cm solar telescope. This system is designed to operate in the visible and is required to be as robust as possible in order to deliver the best…

The Extremely Large Telescope and the Thirty Meter Telescope will use state of the art multiconjugate adaptive optics (MCAO) systems to obtain the full D4 advantage that their apertures can provide. However, to reach the full astrometric…

The MagAO-X instrument is an upgrade of the Magellan AO system that will introduce extreme adaptive optics capabilities for high-contrast imaging at visible and near-infrared wavelengths. A central component of this system is a…

Digital micromirror devices have gained popularity in wavefront shaping, offering a high frame rate alternative to liquid crystal spatial light modulators. They are relatively inexpensive, offer high resolution, are easy to operate, and a…

We present a proof-of-concept LIDAR design that allows adaptive real-time measurements according to dynamically specified measurement patterns. We describe our optical setup and calibration, which enables fast sparse depth measurements…

The need for both high quality images and lightweight structures is one of the main drivers in space telescope design. An efficient wavefront control system will become mandatory in future large observatories, retaining performance while…

The capability of the adaptive optics to correct for the segmentation error is analyzed in terms of the residual wavefront RMS and the power spectral density of the phase. The analytical model and the end-to-end simulation give…

We describe a technology for the fabrication of inexpensive and versatile mirrors through the use of a new type of nanoengineered optical material composed by the spreading of a self-assembling reflective colloidal film spread at the…

Due to turbulence in the atmosphere images taken from ground-based telescopes become distorted. With adaptive optics (AO) images can be given greater clarity allowing for better observations with existing telescopes and are essential for…