The Zernike phase contrast sensor has been studied in the framework of the Active Phasing Experiment in the laboratory and on sky at the Very Large Telescope. Atmospheric turbulence strongly affects the shape of the signal of the Zernike phase contrast sensor. The first part of these proceedings is dedicated to a study of the influence of atmospheric turbulence on the signal of the Zernike phase contrast sensor. The second part is dedicated to the phasing of segmented deformable mirrors. A new technology of segmented deformable mirrors for adaptive optics made from silicon wafers with bimorph piezoelectric actuation has been proven to work. A demonstrator with three hexagonal segments of 90 mm corner to corner has been built. The morphing capability of the segmented mirror has been studied and validated by simulations and on a test bench. In this paper, we demonstrate with simulations the phasing of the segmented bimorph mirror with the Zernike phase contrast method. Aspects such as phasing in the presence of segment aberrations have been investigated.
The Active Phasing Experiment (APE) was designed to test four different phasing techniques and to validate
wavefront control concepts for Extremely Large Telescopes. One of the sensors is the ZErnike Unit for Segment
phasing (ZEUS), which was successfully tested on-sky along with the rest of the APE experiment at one of the
Nasmyth platforms of the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in 2009. During the four observing campaigns, multiple
results were obtained in open-loop and in closed-loop at different wavelengths. We present in this paper an
analysis of the multi-wavelength data in terms of piston measurement precision at the edges of the segments
and on the reconstructed wavefront, and an analysis of the evolution of these errors in successive closed-loop
runs at different wavelengths. This work demonstrates how the applied multi-wavelength algorithm leads to
convergence, allowing phasing of segments with piston errors of several microns.
The Shack-Hartmann Phasing Sensor (SHAPS) has been integrated in the Active Phasing Experiment (APE) at ESO.
It is currently under test in the laboratory. The tests on sky are foreseen for the end of 2008, when APE will be mounted
at the Nasmyth focus of one of the VLT unit telescopes. SHAPS is based on the Shack-Hartmann principle: the lenslet
array is located in a plane which is optically conjugated to the Active Segmented Mirror (ASM) of APE and is composed
of two types of microlenses, circular and cylindrical, which give information about the wavefront slope and the piston
steps, respectively. This proceeding contains a description of SHAPS and of the algorithms implemented for the
wavefront reconstruction and for the phasing. The preliminary results obtained during the laboratory tests are discussed
and compared with the theoretical predictions. The performances of SHAPS at the VLT and at the European Extremely
Large Telescope (E-ELT) are estimated.
The purpose of the Active Phasing Experiment, designed under the lead of ESO, is to study new phasing technologies
and to validate wavefront control concepts for Extremely Large Telescopes. The Active Phasing Experiment is currently
tested in the laboratory at the ESO headquarters and will be tested on sky at a Nasmyth focus of a VLT unit telescope at
the end of 2008. The test bench contains four different phasing sensors which are tested in parallel to compare them
under the same conditions. They have been developed by Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica in Florenze, Instituto
Astrofisica Canarias in Tenerife, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille and ESO. It includes also an Active
Segmented Mirror which simulates the segmentation of a primary mirror. A non-contact optical metrology has been
developed by Fogale Nanotech to control it. The VLT focus and the VLT atmospheric conditions are simulated in the
laboratory with a turbulence generator producing a seeing between 0.45 and 0.85 arcsec. Once installed on a VLT unit
telescope, the control system of the Active Phasing Experiment will be able to control the phasing of the ASM, but also
the guiding and the active optics of the VLT. This proceeding gives a brief summary of the opto-mechanical aspects of
the Active Phasing experiment, describes its control system and gives an analysis of the preliminary results obtained in
the laboratory.
In the framework of the Active Phasing Experiment (APE), four different phasing techniques are tested. The
ZErnike Unit for Segment phasing sensor (ZEUS) is integrated on the APE bench. APE has been tested in
the laboratory before it will be installed on one of the Nasmyth platform of a Very Large Telescope (VLT)
Unit Telescope to perform on sky tests. The ZEUS phasing sensor concept has its origins in the Mach-Zehnder
interferometer equipped with a spatial filter in its focal plane. In this paper, the ZEUS phasing sensor is
described together with its theoretical background and deployment within the APE experiment. The algorithms
and its elements used to reconstruct the wavefront are described. Finally, the preliminary results obtained in
the laboratory are presented.
The primary mirror of future Extremely Large Telescopes will be composed of hundreds of individual segments.
Misalignments in piston and tip-tilt of such segments must be reduced to a small fraction of the observing
wavelength in order not to affect the image quality of these telescopes. In the framework of the Active Phasing
Experiment carried out at ESO, new phasing techniques based on the concept of pupil plane detection will
be tested. The misalignments of the segments produce amplitude variations at locations on a CCD detector
corresponding to the locations of the segment edges. The position of the segment edges on a CCD image must
first be determined with pixel accuracy in order to localize the signals which can be analyzed in a second phase
with a robust signal analysis algorithm. A method to retrieve the locations of the edges and a phasing algorithm
to measure the misalignments between the segments with an accuracy of a few nanometers have been developed.
This entire phasing procedure will be presented. The performance of the pattern recognition algorithm will
be studied as a function of the number of photons, the amplitude of the segment misalignments and their
distribution. Finally, the accuracy achieved under conditions similar to the ones met during observation will be
discussed.
The purpose of the Active Phasing Experiment, designed under the lead of ESO, is to validate wavefront control concepts for ELT class telescopes. This instrument includes an Active Segmented Mirror, located in a pupil image. It will be mounted at a Nasmyth focus of one of the Unit Telescopes of the ESO VLT. APE contains four different types of phasing sensors, which are developed by Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica in Arcetri, Instituto Astrofisica Canarias, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille and ESO. These phasing sensors can be compared simultaneously under identical optical and environmental conditions. All sensors receive telecentric F/15 beams with identical optical quality and intensity. Each phasing sensor can measure segmentation errors of the active segmented mirror and correct them in closed loop. The phasing process is supervised by an Internal Metrology system developed by FOGALE Nanotech and capable of measuring piston steps with an accuracy of a few nanometers. The Active Phasing Experiment is equipped with a turbulence generator to simulate atmospheric seeing between 0.45 and 0.85 arcsec in the laboratory. In addition, the Active Phasing Experiment is designed to control simultaneously with the phasing corrections the guiding and the active optics of one of the VLT Unit Telescopes. This activity is supported by the European Community (Framework Programme 6, ELT Design Study, contract No 011863).
In a framework of ELT design study our group is building an Active Phasing Experiment (APE), the main goals of which is to demonstrate the non-adaptive wavefront control scheme and technology for Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). The experiment includes verification and test of different phasing sensors and integration of a phasing wavefront sensor into a global scheme of segmented telescope active control. After a sufficient number of tests in the laboratory APE will be mounted and tested on sky at a Nasmyth focus of a VLT unit telescope. The paper presents APE as a demonstrator of particular aspects of ELT and provides a general understanding concerning the strategy of segmented mirrors active control.
We describe the ZEUS phasing camera for future extremely large telescopes (ELTs) based on the Zernike phase contrast method. A prototype instrument is under construction for implementation in the Active Phasing Experiment (APE), a VLT test bed scheduled for operation in 2007. The paper describes theoretical aspects of the method and its experimental validation, as well as the instrumental implementation for APE. Aspects of its implementation in an ELT are also discussed. While the classical Zernike method uses a phase mask with diameter approximately equal to the Airy disk, we employ a mask the size of the seeing disk. This allows us to overcome the problems related to atmospheric turbulence, whose low spatial frequency phase errors are much larger than the co-phasing errors to be measured. The thickness (OPD) of the mask can be set to lambda/4 - as in the classical case - for maximum signal strength, but for initial phasing where phase errors are much larger than the sensor's linear range (+/-lambda/4), a thinner mask produces a cleaner signal more easily exploitable, leaving the signal analysis more robust. A multi wavelength approach is implemented in order to extend the capture range of the sensor, and the ultimate precision is reached using an iterative approach. End-to-end simulations indicating an achievable precision within the required precision will be shown.
The aperture of future Extremely Large Telescopes will be composed of hundreds of individual segments which require the development of new robust phasing techniques based on the concept of pupil plane detection. The misalignments of the segments produce amplitude variations at the location of the segment edges recorded on the phasing camera. To analyze the signals which contain the information about the segmentation error, the position of the segment borders on a CCD image must be determined with a sub-pixel accuracy. In the framework of the Active Phasing Experiment (APE) carried out at ESO, we have developed two methods to retrieve the segmented pattern. One is based on the Hough transform and the other one on the correlation of the images with a hexagonal pattern. After a description of both methods, we shall present the results achieved so far with simulations. Finally, the performances of the two methods will be compared.
This project forms part of the ELT Design Study and is supported by the European Commission, within Framework Programme 6, contract No 011863.
The future European Extremely Large Telescope will be composed of one or two giant segmented mirrors (up to 100 m of
diameter) and of several large monolithic mirrors (up to 8 m in diameter). To limit the aberrations due to misalignments and defective surface quality it is necessary to have a proper active optics system. This active optics system must include a phasing system to limit the degradation of the PSF due to misphasing of the segmented mirrors. We will present the lastest design and development of the Active Phasing Experiment that will be tested in laboratory and on-sky connected to a VLT at Paranal in Chile. It includes an active segmented mirror, a static piston plate to simulate a secondary segmented mirror and of four phasing wavefront sensors to measure the piston, tip and tilt of the segments and the aberrations of the VLT. The four phasing sensors are the Diffraction Image Phase Sensing Instrument developed by Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, the Pyramid Phasing Sensor developed by Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory, the Shack-Hartmann Phasing Sensor developed by the European Southern Observatory and the Zernike Unit for Segment phasing developed by Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille. A reference measurement of the segmented mirror is made by an internal metrology developed by Fogale Nanotech. The control system of Active Phasing Experiment will perform the phasing of the segments, the guiding of the VLT and the active optics of the VLT. These activities are included in the Framework Programme 6 of the European Union.
Progress in the conceptual design phase of ESO's OWL 100-m optical and near-infrared telescope is reported, with emphasis on the development of the science case. The Phase A opto-mechanical design is now basically completed, and provides a clean, symmetrical geometry of the pupil, with a near-circular outer edge. We also report about the latest outcome of industrial studies, introduce the essential definition of the wavefront control systems, and outline operational concepts and instruments priorities. Finally, we elaborate on the favorable cost factors associated to the telescope design, its compatibility with low industrial risks, and argue that progressive implementation allows for competitive timescales. In particular, we show that suitable fabrication and integration schemes should accommodate for a start of science operation at unequalled potential and within a time frame comparable to that of smaller designs, while at the same time maximizing R&D time for critical subsystems.
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