High signal-to-noise ratio sensing with Shack–Hartmann wavefront sensor based on auto gain control of electron multiplying CCD

High signal-to-noise ratio can be achieved with the electron multiplying charge-coupled-device(EMCCD) applied in the Shack–Hartmann wavefront sensor(S–H WFS) in adaptive optics(AO).However,when the brightness of the target changes in a large scale,the fixed electron multiplying(EM) gain will not be suited to the sensing limitation.Therefore an auto-gain-control method based on the brightness of light-spots array in S–H WFS is proposed in this paper.The control value is the average of the maximum signals of every light spot in an array,which has been demonstrated to be kept stable even under the influence of some noise and turbulence,and sensitive enough to the change of target brightness.A goal value is needed in the control process and it is predetermined based on the characters of EMCCD.Simulations and experiments have demonstrated that this auto-gain-control method is valid and robust,the sensing SNR reaches the maximum for the corresponding signal level,and especially is greatly improved for those dim targets from 6 to 4 magnitude in the visual band.     

Configuration optimization of laser guide stars and wavefront correctors for multi-conjugation adaptive optics

Multi-conjugation adaptive optics(MCAOs) have been investigated and used in the large aperture optical telescopes for high-resolution imaging with large field of view(FOV).The atmospheric tomographic phase reconstruction and projection of three-dimensional turbulence volume onto wavefront correctors,such as deformable mirrors(DMs) or liquid crystal wavefront correctors(LCWCs),is a very important step in the data processing of an MCAO's controller.In this paper,a method according to the wavefront reconstruction performance of MCAO is presented to evaluate the optimized configuration of multi laser guide stars(LGSs) and the reasonable conjugation heights of LCWCs.Analytical formulations are derived for the different configurations and are used to generate optimized parameters for MCAO.Several examples are given to demonstrate our LGSs configuration optimization method.Compared with traditional methods,our method has minimum wavefront tomographic error,which will be helpful to get higher imaging resolution at large FOV in MCAO.     

A high precision phase reconstruction algorithm for multi-laser guide stars adaptive optics

Adaptive optics(AO) systems are widespread and considered as an essential part of any large aperture telescope for obtaining a high resolution imaging at present.To enlarge the imaging field of view(FOV),multi-laser guide stars(LGSs) are currently being investigated and used for the large aperture optical telescopes.LGS measurement is necessary and pivotal to obtain the cumulative phase distortion along a target in the multi-LGSs AO system.We propose a high precision phase reconstruction algorithm to estimate the phase for a target with an uncertain turbulence profile based on the interpolation.By comparing with the conventional average method,the proposed method reduces the root mean square(RMS) error from 130 nm to 85 nm with a 30% reduction for narrow FOV.We confirm that such phase reconstruction algorithm is validated for both narrow field AO and wide field AO.     

相位差波前探测与图像重建

相位差技术可以直接利用两幅或多幅图像的强度信息,重构出波前相位信息和目标清晰图像,具有光路简单、成本较低、适用于扩展目标等优点,在望远镜的系统像差检测和目标图像重建方面得到了大量应用。相位差波前探测的关键在于求解非线性代价函数的最优化问题,需要避免陷入局部极值并降低计算时间,才能满足动态变化波前实时探测的需求。同时在重建目标清晰图像时,通常需要做正则化和去噪处理,来提高重建图像的质量。本文主要介绍相位差技术的基本原理,以及近年来的研究进展,并对该技术未来的发展进行了展望。     

Electro-optical properties of high birefringence liquid crystal compounds with isothiocyanate and naphthyl group

Liquid crystal(LC) compound with isothiocyanate and naphthyl group is an attractive high birefringence LC material,and can be used in optical devices. In this paper, the electro-optical properties of a series of this type of LC compounds were investigated. The melting points and enthalpy values of these LC compounds were higher than those of corresponding compounds with the phenyl group. These compounds exhibited high birefringence with a maximum value of 0.66. Fluorine substitution in the molecular almost does not affect the birefringence value. When these LC compounds with the naphthyl group were dissolved in a commercial LC mixture, the electro-optical properties depending on temperature were investigated. In the low-temperature region, LC mixtures with the naphthyl-group LC compounds exhibited higher viscosity than pure commercial LCs. In the high-temperature region, viscosity values very closely approached each other. When response performance was investigated, figure-of-merit(Fo M) values were measured. The Fo M values of LC mixtures containing LC compounds with naphthyl group were lower than those of reference benzene LCs in the low-temperature region. However, in the high-temperature region, the results were reversed. These isothiocyanate LC compounds with naphthyl group can be applied in special fast-response LC device, particularly the ones used under high-temperature conditions.     

太赫兹声子极化激元在LiNbO3微结构中的衍射和干涉动态过程的时间分辨成像

利用飞秒激光脉冲,在50μm厚的铌酸锂晶体薄片中产生了太赫兹声子极化激元波.使用飞秒加工技术在铌酸锂晶体薄片上刻制了针对太赫兹声子极化激元波的衍射和干涉微结构.利用已经构建的偏振门探测成像系统实时动态地记录了太赫兹声子极化激元波的时间和空间传播过程.对不同频率的声子极化激元波在不同尺寸狭缝的动态衍射和干涉的过程进行了时间分辨的二维成像探测和分析,直观地展示了其衍射和干涉的时空特性.     

周期极化KTiOPO4晶体和频单块非平面环形腔激光产生连续单频589nm黄光

单次通过周期极化KTiOPO₄晶体和频单块非平面环形腔1064 nm与1319 nm激光产生连续单频589 nm黄光. 通过琼斯矩阵模拟计算对单块非平面Nd:YAG晶体参数进行了优化设计, 实验获得1080 mW和580 mW的连续单频1064 nm和1319 nm激光输出. 两束激光单次通过周期极化KTiOPO₄晶体和频产生14.8 mW, M²=1.14的589 nm黄光, 相应的和频效率为0.9%. 研究了周期极化KTiOPO₄温度对和频效率的影响, 得到其温度接收带宽为1.5℃. 通过改变1064 nm Nd:YAG晶体的温度可实现589 nm黄光波长精确对应钠原子D_2a吸收谱线, 调谐精度达到0.164 pm.