Related papers: Optical Tests of a 3.7-m diameter Liquid Mirror: B…
Interferometric tests of a f/1.2 2.5-m diameter liquid mirror show RMS surface deviations about wave/20 and Strehl ratios of order 0.6, showing that it is diffraction limited. The mirror is certainly better than implied by the data because…
The surface of a spinning liquid takes the shape of a paraboloid that can be used as a reflecting mirror. This very old and nearly forgotten concept has recently been revived and I review its present status. Extensive interferometric tests…
We give a generic description of a liquid mirror system and summarize some practical information useful to making them. We compare laboratory measurements of deformations, due to the weight of mercury on the container of a 3.7-m mirror and…
If uncorrected, the Coriolis force due to the rotation of the Earth causes significant aberration of images produced by large liquid-mirror telescopes. We show that this problem can be eliminated by a fixed compensating tilt of the…
We present a new class of magnetically shaped deformable liquid mirrors made of a magnetic liquid (ferrofluid). Deformable liquid mirrors offer advantages with respect to deformable solid mirrors: large deformations, low costs and the…
We review the present status of liquid mirror telescopes. Interferometric tests of liquid mirrors (the largest one having a diameter of 2.5 meters ) show excellent optical qualities. The basic technology is now sufficiently reliable that it…
A new design is proposed for large (up to 6-m) liquid mirror containers. The design uses Kevlar, foam and aluminum, as in previous designs, but with a different configuration that makes the container lighter, stronger and more rigid. The…
We study theoretically the internal thermal noise of a mirror coated on a plano-convex substrate. The comparison with a cylindrical mirror of the same mass shows that the effect on a light beam can be reduced by a factor 10, improving the…
We present the research status of a deformable mirror made of a magnetic liquid whose surface is actuated by a triangular array of small current carrying coils. We demonstrate that the mirror can correct a 11 microns low order aberrated…
We report the results of a recent search for the lowest value of thermal noise that can be achieved in LIGO by changing the shape of mirrors, while fixing the mirror radius and maintaining a low diffractional loss. The result of this…
I review the present status of liquid mirror telescopes. In a nutshell: LMTs do work and several have been built and used. Extensive interferometric tests of liquid mirrors (the largest one having a diameter of 2.5 meters) show diffraction…
We investigate the aspherization of an active mirror for correcting third and fifth-order aberrations. We use a stainless steel AISI 420 mirror with a controlled pressure load, two series of 12-punctual radial positions of force application…
Crystalline silicon has been proposed as a new test mass material in third generation gravitational wave detectors such as the Einstein Telescope (ET). Birefringence can reduce the interferometric contrast and can produce dynamical…
Parabolic and spherical mirrors are constructed of aluminized PET polyester film on urethane foam. During construction, the chosen shape of the mirror is created by manipulating the elastic/plastic behavior of the film with air pressure.…
Thin slumped glass foils are considered good candidates for the realization of future X-ray telescopes with large effective area and high spatial resolution. However, the hot slumping process affects the glass strength, and this can be an…
We report the successful development and operation of a large astronomical liquid-mirror telescope. Employing a rotating 2.7-meter diameter mirror with a surface of liquid mercury, the telescope images a half-degree diameter field centered…
We describe a new technology for the fabrication of inexpensive high-quality mirrors. We begin by chemically producing a large number of metallic nanoparticles coated with organic ligands. The particles are then spread on a liquid substrate…
Crystalline materials are promising candidates as substrates or high-reflective coatings of mirrors to reduce thermal noises in future laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors. However, birefringence of such materials could…
Thermodynamically induced length fluctuations of high-reflectivity mirror coatings put a fundamental limit on sensitivity and stability of precision optical interferometers like gravitational wave detectors and ultra-stable lasers. The main…
We experimentally analyze a Bessel beam produced with a conical mirror, paying particular attention to its superluminal and diffraction-free properties. We spatially characterized the beam in the radial and on-axis dimensions, and verified…