Related papers: Focal Plane Tip-Tilt Sensing for Improved Single-M…
Optical imperfections, misalignments, aberrations, and even dust can significantly limit sensitivity in high-contrast imaging systems such as coronagraphs. An upstream deformable mirror (DM) in the pupil can be used to correct or compensate…
We investigate methods to calibrate the non-common path aberrations at an adaptive optics system having a wavefront-correcting device working at an extremely high resolution (larger than 150x150). We use focal-plane images collected…
Photonic technologies offer numerous advantages for astronomical instruments such as spectrographs and interferometers owing to their small footprints and diverse range of functionalities. Operating at the diffraction-limit, it is…
Optical aberrations prevent telescopes from reaching their theoretical diffraction limit. Once estimated, these aberrations can be compensated for using deformable mirrors in a closed loop. Focal plane wavefront sensing enables the…
Adaptive optics (AO) systems have significantly improved astronomical imaging capabilities over the last decade, and are revolutionizing the kinds of science possible with 4-5m class ground-based telescopes. A thorough understanding of AO…
We report on a tapered three-core optical fibre that can be used as a tip-tilt wavefront sensor. In this device, a coupled region of a few millimetres at the sensing tip of the fibre converts fragile phase information from an incoming…
Direct imaging instruments have the spatial resolution to resolve exoplanets from their host star. This enables direct characterization of the exoplanets atmosphere, but most direct imaging instruments do not have spectrographs with high…
We present a concept of a millimeter wavefront sensor that allows real-time sensing of the surface of a ground-based millimeter/submillimeter telescope. It is becoming important for ground-based millimeter/submillimeter astronomy to make…
The next generation of large telescopes for direct imaging of exoplanets will require segmented primary mirrors. Over both long and short timescales, these telescopes experience segment misalignments which degrade the final science image.…
Several telescopes include large Deformable Mirrors (DM) located directly inside the telescope. These adaptive telescopes trigger new constraints for the calibration of the Adaptive Optics (AO) systems as they usually offer no access to an…
Atmospheric turbulence causes fluctuations in the local refractive index of air that accumulatively disturb a wave's phase and amplitude distribution as it propagates. This impairs the effective range of laser weapons as well as the…
The future large adaptive telescopes will trigger new constraints for the calibration of Adaptive Optics (AO) systems equipped with pre-focal Deformable Mirrors (DM). The image of the DM actuators grid as seen by the Wave-Front Sensor (WFS)…
High precision astrometry aims at source position determination to a very small fraction of the diffraction image size, in high SNR regime. One of the key limitations to such goal is the optical response variation of the telescope over a…
High-contrast imaging systems using active control with adaptive optics (AO) are often limited by non-common path (NCP) aberrations that are seen only at the final science image. AO systems employing focal-plane wavefront sensors (FP-WFSs)…
The increased need in pointing performance for Earth observation and science Space missions together with the use of lighter and flexible structures directly come with the need of a robust pointing performance budget from the very beginning…
Astronomers working with faint targets will benefit greatly from improved image quality on current and planned ground-based telescopes. At present, most adaptive optic systems are targeted at the highest resolution with bright guide stars.…
In astronomy or biological imaging, refractive index inhomogeneities of e.g. atmosphere or tissues induce optical aberrations which degrade the desired information hidden behind the medium. A standard approach consists in measuring these…
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…
Many modern astronomical instruments rely on the optimal coupling of starlight into single-mode fibers (SMFs). For ground-based telescopes, this coupling is limited by atmospheric turbulence. We propose an integrated wavefront corrector…
Existing planet-finding spectrometers are limited by systematic errors that result from their seeing-limited design. Of particular concern is the use of multi-mode fibers (MMFs), which introduce modal noise and accept significant amounts of…