Liquid optics: technological developments and astronomical applications

液体光学：技术发展和天文应用

• 批准号: 167-2006
• 负责人: Borra, Ermanno
• 金额: $ 2.26万
• 依托单位: Université Laval
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2006-01-01 至 2007-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=334534
• 关键词: Liquid; optics; technological; developments; astronomical

The Liquid Mirror (LM ) technology allows the construction of essentially perfect optical elements at very low cost. Several LM Telescopes have been built and employed as research instruments for use in Astronomy, Atmospheric Sciences and Optics. My research over the next 5 years will continue my LM work and consist of three main activities: Astronomical observations with a 4-m LMT, work on a lunar LMT and development of  Nanoengineered LMs (NLMs). NLMs are an entirely new class of optical elements consisting of highly reflective metallic films deposited on liquids. By coating ferromagnetic liquids we create reflective surfaces that can be shaped with magnetic fields, allowing us to make complex surfaces that can vary rapidly in time. The technology promises to deliver on an ambitious goal: To allow an incoming wavefront of arbitrary shape to be transformed upon reflection to an outgoing wavefront of any desired shape. This capability is at the very heart of optics. Consequently, this project has the potential to produce a revolutionary technology.  Magnetic LMs are far more inexpensive and versatile than conventional adaptive optics. By coating viscous liquids we can also make rotating liquid mirrors tiltable by more than 10 degrees. This will be a spectacular development that will greatly increase the versatility of LMTs with a significant impact on optical Astronomy. We will work on two fronts: improving the characteristics of reflecting liquids and testing the mirrors. An international consortium has initiated the International Liquid Mirror Telescope project, which consists of a 4-m diameter LMT observatory. It will obtain deep images in a strip of sky covering 150 square degrees. The same strip will be observed night after night for four years through a standard set of colored filters resulting in unique astrophysical information for each celestial object. The resulting data set will be unique because of its faintness, wide area, and, foremost, the variability information provided. NASA and CSA have given grants to an international collaboration to look into the feasibility of a lunar LMT. Laval's work, funded by CSA, consists in developing cryogenic reflecting liquids.

液体镜（LM）技术允许以非常低的成本构造基本上完美的光学元件。几个LM望远镜已经建成并用作天文学，大气科学和光学的研究仪器。我在未来5年的研究将继续我的LM工作，包括三个主要活动：天文观测与4米LMT，工作在月球LMT和纳米工程LM（NLM）的发展。NLM是一种全新的光学元件，由沉积在液体上的高反射金属薄膜组成。通过涂覆铁磁液体，我们创造了可以用磁场塑造的反射表面，使我们能够制造出可以随时间迅速变化的复杂表面。该技术有望实现一个雄心勃勃的目标：允许任意形状的入射波前在反射时转换为任何所需形状的出射波前。这种能力是光学的核心。因此，该项目有可能产生一项革命性的技术。磁性LM比传统的自适应光学便宜得多，用途广泛。通过涂覆粘性液体，我们还可以使旋转液体镜倾斜超过10度。这将是一个壮观的发展，将大大增加LMT的多功能性，对光学天文学产生重大影响。我们将在两个方面开展工作：改进反射液体的特性和测试镜子。一个国际财团发起了国际液体镜望远镜项目，其中包括一个直径4米的LMT天文台。它将在覆盖150平方度的天空中获得深度图像。同一条带将通过一套标准的彩色滤光片进行四年的昼夜观测，从而为每个天体提供独特的天体物理信息。由此产生的数据集将是独特的，因为它的模糊性、广泛的区域，以及最重要的是提供的变异性信息。美国宇航局和加空局已向一项国际合作提供赠款，以研究月球LMT的可行性。拉瓦尔的工作由CSA资助，包括开发低温反射液体。