A new type of wavefront sensor for adaptive optics with pulsed laser beacons

一种带有脉冲激光信标的自适应光学的新型波前传感器

• 批准号: 9987358
• 负责人: Michael Hart
• 金额: $ 42.83万
• 依托单位: University of Arizona
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2000
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2000-08-15 至 2004-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9987358&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: new; type; wavefront; sensor; adaptive

Lloyd-HartAST9987358AbstractA very innovative approach to sense an atmospheric wavefront distortion with Rayleigh beacons is being developed. A near diffraction-limited laser emitting ultra-violet pulses of 100 nanoseconds will project columns of light whose instantaneous volume is a near cylindrical shape 30 meters long by 10 centimeters wide within the optical wavefront-phase perturbing atmospheric medium. A portion of the turbulent atmosphere is frozen in time by the 100 nanosecond pulse. Radiation will Rayleigh backscatter optical phase information characteristic of that volume into the telescope. This scene information will be used to create a real-time volumetric tomographic map of the 3-D character of the turbulence. Signals from this volume phase map will drive a multiple-plane Adaptive-Optics system to correct for atmospheric turbulence over a wide isoplanatic patch. Systems design and limited hardware prototypes will be designed built and tested to verify theory. An important aspect of this innovative idea is how well do the theoretical expectations for wavefront accuracy and resolution can be realized on an astronomical telescope such as the 6.5-meter MMT.

摘要一种非常创新的利用瑞利信标探测大气波前畸变的方法正在被开发。发射100纳秒紫外脉冲的近衍射极限激光将在光波前相位扰动大气介质中投射瞬时体积为30米长、10厘米宽的近圆柱形光柱。一部分湍流大气被100纳秒的脉冲冻结在时间上。辐射将瑞利后向散射的光学相位信息特征的体积进入望远镜。这些场景信息将用于创建湍流三维特征的实时体层析图。来自该体积相位图的信号将驱动多平面自适应光学系统来校正宽等平面斑块上的大气湍流。系统设计和有限的硬件原型将设计，建造和测试，以验证理论。这一创新理念的一个重要方面是，在6.5米MMT这样的天文望远镜上，对波前精度和分辨率的理论期望能在多大程度上实现。