Impact of telescope seeing on laser adaptive optics

Atmospheric turbulence in the internal light path of a telescope produces noncommon path phase differences that degrade the image quality of adaptive-optics systems employing laser guide stars. The spatial covariance and rms wavefront errors produced by this effect are derived. It is found that the tilt-removed wavefront error ranges from about 12 nm for a representative 30 m telescope to 59 nm for a 100 m telescope of similar optical design. For adaptive-optics systems that aim to derive tip-tilt information from the laser guide stars the error is considerably larger, ranging from 22 nm for the 30 m telescope to 256 nm for the 100 m telescope. This effect can be a significant impediment to the performance of such systems.     

Light-beat measurement of phase fluctuations of a laser beam propagating through a turbulent atmosphere

Real-time processing of phase fluctuations of a laser beam has been considered in association with the phase of a beat signal of light. Two fine light beams, included in the expanded laser beam propagating through an artificially turbulent atmosphere, are shifted in frequency by two successive ultrasonic light modulators at slightly different frequencies, so that they can be photomixed to generate a beat signal whose phase is randomly modulated. The fluctuating phase difference of the two fine beams can be revealed in real-time from the phase of the beat signal. It is immediately processed by a conventional wave-height analyzer, from which a probability density and its variance are simply obtained. When the atmosphere is perturbed by the blower with a heater alone, the probability density takes the Gaussian form and the variance obeys approximately the 5/3-power law as the two beam separation is increased. When the turbulent atmosphere is further disturbed by some metallic mesh, the probability density does not always obey Gaussian statistics, but it depends greatly on the turbulent state of the atmosphere.     

Quantum Beat Detection by Photon Statistics Techniques

In this paper we study the usefulness of photon statistics techniques in quantum beat spectroscopy when the intensity of the detected light beam is very small. It is concluded that accurate results can be obtained if the Fourier transform of the time-interval probability is measured.     

Repetition rate increase and diffraction-limited focal spots for a nonthermal-equilibrium 100-TW Nd:glass laser chain by use of adaptive optics

Dynamic wave-front correction is applied before each shot on a 100-TW, 30-J/300-fs high-power laser facility by use of an adaptive-optics system. This system allows us to increase the repetition rate of high-energy lasers while maintaining excellent and constant beam focusability with a Strehl ratio of >0.75 despite the amplifiers' not being in thermal equilibrium. The best results in terms of the highest Strehl ratio and intensities are obtained when locking the system on wave-front sensing after pulse recompression.     

Speckle statistics in partially corrected wave fronts

Wave fronts distorted by the atmosphere preserve high-spatial-frequency information. This information can be retrieved by use of adaptive optics systems to correct the incoming wave front. This correction should be as nearly complete as possible. In experiments performed in the visible, only partial compensation is attainable. We provide a theoretical model to predict the intensity statistics of the light in the image center as a function of the number of Zernike polynomials corrected.     

Non-Kolmogorov湍流大气中小尺度热晕效应线性理论

从小尺度热晕线性理论出发,在non-Kolmogorov谱的基础上,得到了non-Kolmogorov谱湍流下热晕相位补偿的Strehl比表达式,分析了湍流谱对高能激光的相位补偿的影响.研究结果表明湍流谱对湍流热晕效应的相位补偿有重要的影响.在相同的湍流菲涅耳数下,当谱指数越接近于3时补偿效果越差,谱指数接近于4时补偿效果越好.在相同大气相干长度条件下或在相同湍流折射率常量条件下,当谱指数接近于3时,Strehl比随热晕效应的增强而下降变快,当湍流谱指数逐渐接近于4时,Strehl比下降速度变慢.其原因是随着湍流谱指数的增大,湍流热晕相互作用引起的对数振幅起伏增长变慢.     

自适应光学系统随机并行梯度下降控制算法实验研究

随机并行梯度下降算法是一种极具应用潜力的自适应光学系统控制算法,具有不依赖波前传感器直接对系统性能指标进行优化的特点。基于32单元变形镜、CCD成像器件等建立自适应光学系统随机并行梯度下降控制算法实验平台。考察算法增益系数和扰动幅度对校正效果和收敛速度的影响,验证随机并行梯度下降算法的基本原理。实验结果表明参量选取合适的情况下,随机并行梯度下降控制算法对静态或慢变化的畸变波前具有较好的校正能力。根据实验结果分析了影响随机并行梯度下降算法校正速度的主要因素。     

非视线紫外光信号传输时间特性的数值模拟

在研究紫外光学非视线通信技术中,需要深入了解由于紫外大气散射效应所带来的各种信号畸变.传统的单次散射近似方法在进行较远距离、复杂天气条件下非视线光传输模拟时误差很大,采用基于Monte Carlo(MC)方法改进算法进行非视线紫外光信号传输的数值模拟,通过随机抽样的方法模拟光子在大气系统中的随机游动,在光子被大气中的粒子散射时计算其进入探测器的概率,模拟大气系统的脉冲响应函数.模拟结果表明:采用光子散射探测概率方法改进后的MC模型在模拟非视线光信号传输时计算效率显著提高;大气系统对非视线传输时的紫外光脉冲具有很强的展宽效应;随着光信号传输距离的增大,信号强度呈近似指数衰减的趋势.     

Superresolution in compensated telescopes

We present a procedure for attaining resolution beyond the diffraction limit in ground-based telescopes. This procedure is based on the use of rotationally symmetric pupil plane filters that can be easily implemented in dynamic optical devices such as a deformable mirror of an adaptive-optics system. We show that a successful application of the technique requires partial compensation for atmospheric distortion by adaptive optics. Consequently, we derive the required level of compensation as a function of the atmospheric conditions. Finally, our results are checked using simulated data.     

Linear phase retrieval for wave-front sensing

Phase retrieval from one or more intensity measurements is a potentially powerful and appealing technique for real-time adaptive-optics wave-front sensors. Under the assumption of small wave-front phase excursions, one is able to derive an exact solution to the inverse problem given three or more intensity measurements with known phase offsets. Applications include a high-order wave-front sensor to correct for residual aberrations in an adaptive-optics system in tandem with a low-resolution Hartmann-Shack wave-front sensor. The formula can also furnish mathematical insights into the full nonlinear phase-retrieval task.     

Evolution of the photon statistics of light propagating through a random medium

We study the photon statistics of light propagating through a random medium such as the turbulent atmosphere by solving the differential equations for the field operators in the Heisenberg picture. The obtained solutions are used for calculation of the characteristic functions and quasi-distributions. We particularly show that the quasi-distribution related to normally ordered operators does not exist in a random medium and consequently we calculate the quasi-distribution related to antinormally ordered operators and discuss its time behaviour; its moments are also derived. The results of this paper will serve as a basis for a discussion of the photon counting statistics in the presence of a random medium in the following paper.     

间歇性大气湍流中光传播问题的近Gauss极限分析

间歇性是湍流的重要特征，多年来一直是湍流研究的核心内容之一.考虑大气湍流中的光传播问题，一般回避其间歇性，假设大气介电起伏满足Gauss统计.考虑大气湍流（内）间歇性 对光波传播的影响.考虑到大气介电起伏方差较小的事实，将光场统计矩方程在Gauss场附近 展开到四阶累计量，分析其近似解.进一步，以层次结构模型为基础，着重研究了光场二阶 统计矩的间歇性效应.研究表明，大气湍流间歇性对光场的影响很小. 关键词： 光波传播 大气湍流 间歇性     

两种典型转换条件下的二次谐波系统在浑沌态下的光子统计

分别在好腔和坏腔两种典型的谐波转换条件下,数值分析了调制泵浦作用下的二次谐波产生系统的浑沌动力学行为.运用文献1给出的方法,在新的条件下研究了系统在浑沌态下的光子统计,结果表明仍为超Poisson分布,而且在某些情况下,浑沌态光场的光子数相对涨落甚至比热光场的光子数相对涨落还要大.最后得出了普遍性的结论;二次谐波系统在浑沌态下的光子统计为形式丰富多样的超Poisson分布,浑沌光场是一种强度高、涨落大的光场.     

Closed-loop aberration correction by use of a modal Zernike wave-front sensor

We describe the practical implementation of a closed-loop adaptive-optics system incorporating a novel modal wave-front sensor. The sensor consists of a static binary-phase computer-generated holographic element, which generates a pattern of spots in a detector plane. Intensity differences between symmetric pairs of these spots give a direct measure of the Zernike mode amplitudes that are present in the input wave front. We use a ferroelectric liquid-crystal spatial light modulator in conjunction with a 4-f system and a spatial filter as a wave-front correction element. We present results showing a rapid increase in Strehl ratio and focal spot quality as the system corrects for deliberately introduced aberrations.     

Adaptive focusing of a high-intensity beam in an irregular medium

Conclusions These model studies show that the performance in adaptive focusing for high-intensity beams in randomly inhomogeneous media is restricted primarily by nonlinear phenomena. The power density at the object is increased by adaptive control and is only slightly dependent on the fluctuation variance for the modes considered and for the range of nonlinearity parameters.In thermal self-action, large-scale spatial distortions predominate, for which one can use adaptive suppression systems with small numbers of control coordinates. In the case of nonlinear refraction in a moving medium, a considerable improvement is obtained by control on the lower aberrations, i.e., by means of the wavefront tilt and curvatures.A current problem in optimizing adaptive-optics systems is evidently the determination of a sufficient set of control coordinates for focusing a high-intensity beam propagating under real conditions.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 11, pp. 30–41, November, 1985.     

基于统计特性的激光雷达距离像噪声抑制算法

激光成像雷达在工作时会受到噪声干扰,因此需要滤除距离像中无法反映真实信息的异常点。根据激光成像雷达距离像噪声的分布,推导出距离像中非异常值的分布特性,并提出了一种距离像异常值的判定条件。将判定条件表示为小范围内抽样分布的函数,利用稳健统计中的中位值法可估算出判定条件的取值,从而可以移除异常点得到噪声抑制后的距离像。利用该算法分别对激光雷达距离像进行仿真和实际获得的激光雷达距离像进行处理并进行数学分析,并与中值滤波进行了比较,结果表明基于统计特性的噪声抑制算法同时具有很强的噪声抑制能力和保护目标细节信息能力,可以满足激光成像雷达距离像噪声抑制的要求。算法充分利用了激光成像雷达较高的测距精度,可以应对多种场景下的需求,具有很强的实用性。     

相位不连续点数目随湍流强度的变化

激光在湍流大气中传输时,若光束波前中出现相位不连续点,自适应光学的校正能力将明显降低,利用4维程序计算了激光在大气中传输时产生的相位不连续点的数目。通过选取不同的相位屏数、计算网格和网格间距,得到了畸变光场中产生的相位不连续点的数目随湍流强度变化的过程,即:相位不连续点的数目随湍流的增强有一个从无到有,从缓慢增加到近似线性的急剧增加,而后又缓慢增加,最后趋于饱和的变化过程。另外,在不同的传输条件下,相位不连续点的数目及其变化存在很大差异。     

Dynamic wave-front distortion compensation with a 134-control-channel submillisecond adaptive system

A 134-control-channel adaptive-optics system consisting of a microelectromechanical mirror array (mu -mirror), a wave-front tilt-control mirror, and a very large scale integration controller utilizing a stochastic gradient-descent optimization of a performance metric is presented. A maximum adaptation rate of ~11, 000 iterations/s was achieved. The system was used to demonstrate real-time compensation for dynamic phase distortions from a laboratory-generated turbulence simulator in a laser-focusing experiment.     

Modal prediction for closed-loop adaptive optics

The correction efficiency of adaptive optics is limited mainly by measurement noise and time delay. To overcome this problem, we describe a new modal linear predictive controller whose parameters are optimized by means of a recursive least-squares algorithm to minimize the residual optical phase variance. The method copes with the recursivity of the closed-loop operation. We demonstrate that the optimal rejection transfer function for adaptive optics is proportional to the frequency signal-to-noise ratio. Finally, we present what we believe to be the first experimental results obtained with a predictor used to control the tip-tilt mirror of an adaptive-optics system.