Related papers: The Bright Pyramid Wavefront Sensor

The direct imaging of potentially habitable Exoplanets is one prime science case for the next generation of high contrast imaging instruments on ground-based extremely large telescopes. To reach this demanding science goal, the instruments…

A key challenge of high contrast imaging (HCI) is to differentiate a speckle from an exoplanet signal. The sources of speckles are a combination of atmospheric residuals and aberrations in the non-common path. Those non-common path…

The direct detection and imaging of exoplanets requires the use of high-contrast adaptive optics (AO). In these systems quasi-static aberrations need to be highly corrected and calibrated. In order to achieve this, the pupil-modulated…

Traditional wavefront control in high-energy, high-intensity laser systems usually lacks real-time capability, failing to address dynamic aberrations. This limits experimental accuracy due to shot-to-shot fluctuations and necessitates long…

Current and future high contrast imaging instruments aim to detect exoplanets at closer orbital separations, lower masses, and/or older ages than their predecessors. However, continually evolving speckles in the coronagraphic science image…

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.…

HWO's Tier 1 Contrast Stability Technology Gap presents a key challenge for technology development in the coming years, requiring to a >100x more stable system than JWST. WaveDriver is a concept for a laser guide star spacecraft coupled to…

The wavefront sensor (WFS), equipped with an electron-multiplying charge-coupled device (EMCCD) detector, is a critical component of the Cool Planets Imaging Coronagraph (CPI-C) on the Chinese Space Station Telescope (CSST). Precise…

High contrast imaging (HCI) systems rely on active wavefront control (WFC) to deliver deep raw contrast in the focal plane, and on calibration techniques to further enhance contrast by identifying planet light within the residual speckle…

We introduce wavefront shaping as a tool for optimizing the sensitivity in nano-optomechanical measurement schemes. We perform multimode output analysis of an optomechanical system consisting of a focused laser beam coupled to the…

The contrast performance of current eXtreme Adaptive Optics (XAO) systems can be improved by adding a second AO correction stage featuring its own wavefront sensor, deformable mirror, and real-time controller. We develop a dynamical model…

The Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) is an integral field spectrograph on the Very Large Telescope Unit Telescope 4, capable of laser guide star assisted and tomographic adaptive optics using the GALACSI module. Its observing…

The Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) is a high contrast imaging instrument that aims to detect and characterize extrasolar planets. GPI is being upgraded to GPI 2.0, with several subsystems receiving a re-design to improve the instrument's…

Wavefront sensing and control (WFSC) will play a key role in improving the stability of future large segmented space telescopes while relaxing the thermo-mechanical constraints on the observatory structure. Coupled with a coronagraph to…

Continuous wavefront sensing on future space telescopes allows relaxation of stability requirements while still allowing on-orbit diffraction-limited optical performance. We consider the suitability of phase retrieval to continuously…

Direct imaging of exoplanets is crucial for advancing our understanding of planetary systems beyond our solar system, but it faces significant challenges due to the high contrast between host stars and their planets. Wavefront aberrations…

One of the primary science goals of the Large UV/Optical/Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR) mission concept is to detect and characterize Earth-like exoplanets orbiting nearby stars with direct imaging. The success of its coronagraph instrument…

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will use an active optics system (AOS) to maintain alignment and surface figure on its three large mirrors. Corrective actions fed to the LSST AOS are determined from information derived from 4…

The ESA Gaia spacecraft has two Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensors (WFS) on its focal plane. They are required to refocus the telescope in-orbit due to launch settings and gravity release. They require bright stars to provide good signal to…

Direct detection and detailed characterization of exoplanets using extreme adaptive optics (ExAO) is a key science goal of future extremely large telescopes (ELTs). However, wavefront errors will limit the sensitivity of this endeavor.…