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We present a robust objective lens optimized for applications requiring both high numerical aperture (NA) and long front working distance imaging comprised of all commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) singlet lenses. Unlike traditional designs…
Imaging is of great importance in everyday life and various fields of science and technology. Conventional imaging is achieved by bending light rays originating from an object with a lens. Such ray bending requires space-variant structures,…
We summarize some of the compelling new scientific opportunities for understanding stars and stellar systems that can be enabled by sub-mas angular resolution, UV/Optical spectral imaging observations, which can reveal the details of the…
High-multiplex and deep spectroscopic follow-up of upcoming panoramic deep-imaging surveys like LSST, Euclid, and WFIRST is a widely recognized and increasingly urgent necessity. No current or planned facility at a U.S. observatory meets…
The speckle imaging is a photographic technique that resolves objects viewed through severely distorted media. The results are insensitive to the errors caused by apparent size of the isoplanatic patch and the telescope aberrations. In this…
Astronomical imaging with micro-arcsecond ($\mu$as) angular resolution could enable breakthrough scientific discoveries. Previously-proposed $\mu$as X-ray imager designs have been interferometers with limited effective collecting area. Here…
Significance: Confocal laser scanning enables optical sectioning in fiber bundle endomicroscopy but limits the frame rate. To be able to better explore tissue morphology it is useful to stitch sequentially acquired frames into a mosaic.…
A low dispersion spectrograph-cum-imager has been developed and assembled in ARIES, Nainital. The optical design of the spectrograph consists of a collimator and a focal reducer converting the f/9 beam from the 3.6-m Devasthal optical…
Free-space optical communications (FSOC) are a key enabling technology for future high-capacity space-based networks. Particularly, the backbone of global communication relies on intersatellite optical links. In a previous study, the…
The availability and performance of laser-based adaptive optics (AO) systems are strongly dependent on the power and quality of the laser beam before being projected to the sky. Frequent and time-consuming alignment procedures are usually…
CubeSats have become a meaningful option for deep-space exploration, but their autonomy must be increased to maximize the science return while limiting the complexity in operations. We present here a solution for an autonomous orbit…
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and confocal microscopy are pivotal in retinal imaging, offering distinct advantages and limitations. In vivo OCT offers rapid, non-invasive imaging but can suffer from clarity issues and motion artifacts,…
The 4f lens system is a standard Fourier-optics building block for angular control in optical platforms such as spatial light modulators, imaging systems, and data storage devices. This work presents the first nanoscale implementation of an…
Control over intensity, shape, direction, and phase of coherent light is essential in numerous fields, reaching from gravitational wave astronomy over quantum metrology and ultrafast sciences to semi-conductor fabrication. Modern laser…
A Cassegrain mounted adaptive optics instrument presents unique challenges for opto-mechanical design. The flexure and temperature tolerances for stability are tighter than those of seeing limited instruments. This criteria requires…
The optical structure of several AGN has been studied using the Fine Guidance Sensors (FGS) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The FGSs are interferometric devices which can resolve structure on scales of 20 milliarcsecs or less and hence…
The WFIRST-AFTA 2.4 m telescope will provide in the next decade the opportunity to host a coronagraph for the imaging and spectroscopy of planets and disks. The telescope, however, is not ideal, given its obscured aperture. Only recently…
We present the design of an all-reflective, bi-folded Schmidt telescope aimed at surveys of extended astronomical objects with extremely-low surface brightness. The design leads to a high image quality without any diffracting spider, along…
Though the ultraviolet (UV) domain plays a vital role in the studies of astronomical transient events, the UV time-domain sky remains largely unexplored. We have designed a wide-field UV imager that can be flown on a range of available…
SCALES is a high-contrast, infrared coronagraphic imager and integral field spectrograph (IFS) to be deployed behind the W.M. Keck Observatory adaptive optics system. A reflective optical design allows diffraction-limited imaging over a…