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 ground-based coronagraphic exoplanet imaging instruments. A disadvantage to many AO systems is that they use sensors that cannot correct for non-common path aberrations. We have developed a new focal plane wavefront sensing technique to address this problem called Deformable Mirror (DM)-based pupil chopping. The process involves a coronagraphic or non-coronagraphic science image and a deformable mirror, which modulates the phase by applying a local tip/tilt every other frame which enables correcting for leftover aberrations in the wavefront after a conventional AO correction. We validate this technique with both simulations (for coronagraphic and non-coronagraphic images) and testing (for non-coronagraphic images) on UCSC’s Santa Cruz Extreme AO Laboratory (SEAL) testbed. We demonstrate that with as low as 250 nm of DM stroke to apply the local tip/tilt this wavefront sensor is linear for low-order Zernike modes and enables real-time control, in principle up to kHz speeds to correct for residual atmospheric turbulence.
The Keck All-Sky Precision Adaptive Optics (KAPA) system project will upgrade the Keck I AO system to enable laser tomography with a four laser guide star (LGS) asterism. This paper describes the new infrastructure which is being built for daytime calibration and testing of the KAPA tomographic algorithms.
The Santa Cruz Extreme AO Lab (SEAL) is a new visible-wavelength testbed designed to advance the state of the art in wavefront control for high contrast imaging on large, segmented, ground-based telescopes. SEAL provides multiple options for simulating atmospheric turbulence, including a custom spatial light modulator. A 37-segment deformable mirror simulates the W. M. Keck Observatory segmented primary mirror. The adaptive optics system consists of a woofer/tweeter DM system, and four wavefront sensor arms: 1) a high-speed Shack-Hartmann WFS, 2) a reflective pyramid WFS, 3) vector-Zernike mask, and 4) a Fast Atmospheric SCC Technique demonstration arm. Finally, a science arm preliminarily includes a classical Lyot-style coronagraph. SEAL's real time control system is based on the CACAO package, and is designed to support the efficient transfer of software between SEAL and the Keck II AO system. In this paper, we present an overview of the design and first light performance of SEAL.
Advancements in making high-efficiency actuators are an enabling technology for building the next generation of large-format deformable mirrors. The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) has developed a new style of variable-reluctance actuator that requires approximately eighty times less power to operate as compared to the traditional style of voice-coil actuators. We present the performance results from laboratory testing of TNO's 57-actuator large-format deformable mirror from measuring the influence functions, linearity, hysteresis, natural shape flattening, actuator cross-coupling, creep, repeatability, and actuator lifetime. We measure a linearity of 99.4 ± 0.33% and hysteresis of 2.10 ± 0.23% over a stroke of 10 microns, indicating that this technology has strong potential for use in on-sky adaptive secondary mirrors (ASMs). We summarize plans for future lab prototypes and ASMs that will further demonstrate this technology.
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