Signal-to-noise ratio tuned adaptive optics control system
First Claim
1. An adaptive optics control system for distorted optical wavefronts, comprising:
- a wavefront corrector having a surface controlled by a plurality of actuators;
a wavefront slope sensor having subaperture separation means for defining a plurality of subapertures through which the distorted wavefront can pass, each subaperture corresponding to each actuator of the wavefront corrector, the wavefront slope sensor being adapted to measure the wavefront slope through each subaperture and generate a wavefront slope sensor output signal for each subaperture indicative of the distortion of the wavefront;
a wavefront reconstructor adapted to receive the wavefront slope sensor output signals and calculate a phase estimate for each of the actuators of the wavefront corrector, the phase estimate having a signal-to-noise ratio, the wavefront reconstructor being further adapted to generate a plurality of correction signals, each having a bandwidth, based on said phase estimates; and
a wavefront controller adapted to selectively adjust the bandwidth of each correction signal based on the signal-to-noise ratio of the estimated phase calculated by the wavefront reconstructor.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An improved, adaptive optics control system having a signal-to-noise ratio-tuned wavefront corrector is disclosed. The system comprises a wavefront corrector, a wavefront sensor, a wavefront reconstructor and a wavefront controller. The wavefront corrector has a surface controlled by a plurality of actuators. The wavefront slope sensor has a subaperture separation mechanism for defining a plurality of subapertures through which the distorted wavefront can pass, each subaperture corresponding to an actuator of the wavefront corrector. The wavefront slope sensor produces a wavefront sensor output signal for each subaperture indicative of the distortion of the wavefront. The wavefront reconstructor is adapted to receive the wavefront sensor output signals and calculate corresponding phase estimates based thereon, each phase estimate having a signal-to-noise ratio. The wavefront reconstructor generates a plurality of correction signals to be applied to each of the actuators of the wavefront corrector, each correction signal having a bandwidth. The wavefront controller is adapted to selectively adjust the bandwidth of each correction signal based on the signal-to-noise ratio of the corresponding phase estimate of the actuator to which it is to be applied. A method of optical wavefront distortion correction is also disclosed.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. An adaptive optics control system for distorted optical wavefronts, comprising:
-
a wavefront corrector having a surface controlled by a plurality of actuators;
a wavefront slope sensor having subaperture separation means for defining a plurality of subapertures through which the distorted wavefront can pass, each subaperture corresponding to each actuator of the wavefront corrector, the wavefront slope sensor being adapted to measure the wavefront slope through each subaperture and generate a wavefront slope sensor output signal for each subaperture indicative of the distortion of the wavefront;
a wavefront reconstructor adapted to receive the wavefront slope sensor output signals and calculate a phase estimate for each of the actuators of the wavefront corrector, the phase estimate having a signal-to-noise ratio, the wavefront reconstructor being further adapted to generate a plurality of correction signals, each having a bandwidth, based on said phase estimates; and
a wavefront controller adapted to selectively adjust the bandwidth of each correction signal based on the signal-to-noise ratio of the estimated phase calculated by the wavefront reconstructor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. A method of optical wavefront distortion correction using a wavefront corrector having a surface controlled by a plurality of actuators, the method comprising:
-
measuring the distortion of the wavefront with a wavefront slope sensor having subaperture separation means for defining a plurality of subapertures through which the distorted wavefront can pass, each subaperture corresponding to each actuator of the wavefront corrector, the wavefront slope sensor being adapted to measure the wavefront slope through each subaperture and generate a wavefront sensor output signal for each subaperture indicative of the distortion of the wavefront;
calculating a phase estimate for each of the actuators of the wavefront corrector based on the wavefront sensor output signals, each phase estimate having a signal-to-noise ratio;
generating a plurality of correction signals to be applied to each actuator based on the phase estimates, each correction signal having a bandwidth; and
selectively adjusting the bandwidth of each correction signal based on the signal-to-noise ratio of the corresponding estimated phase. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification