Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userMeasuring line-of-sight sodium density structure using laser guide stars
177
0
0.0
(
0
)
Added by
Joschua Hellemeier A
Publication date
2020
fields
Physics
and research's language is
English
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
The performance of adaptive optics systems employing sodium laser guide stars can be improved by continuously monitoring the vertical density structure of mesospheric sodium along the line of sight. We demonstrate that sodium density profiles can be retrieved by amplitude modulation of continuous wave (CW) lasers. In an experiment conducted at the Large Zenith Telescope (LZT), ESOs Wendelstein Raman-fibre laser was amplitude-modulated with a pseudo-random binary sequence and profiles were obtained by cross-correlation of the modulation pattern with the observed return signal from the laser guide star. For comparison, high-resolution profiles were obtained simultaneously using the lidar system of the LZT. The profiles obtained by the two techniques show noise contamination, but were found to agree to within the measurement error. As a further check, a comparison was also made between several lidar profiles and those obtained by simultaneous observations using a remote telescope to image the laser plume from the side. The modulated CW lidar technique could be implemented by diverting a small fraction of the returned laser light to a photon counting detector. Theoretical analysis and numerical simulations indicate that, for 50 per cent modulation strength, the sodium centroid altitude could be retrieved every 5 s from a single laser guide star, with an accuracy which would induce a corresponding wavefront error of 50 nm for the ELT and less than 30 nm for the TMT and GMT. If multiple laser guide stars are employed, the required modulation amplitude will be smaller.
rate research
Read More
We numerically study a method to increase the photon return flux of continuous-wave laser guide stars using one-dimensional atomic cooling principles. The method relies on chirping the laser towards higher frequencies following the change in velocity of sodium atoms due to recoil, which raises atomic populations available for laser excitation within the Doppler distribution. The efficiency of this effect grows with the average number of atomic excitations between two atomic collisions in the mesosphere. We find the parameters for maximizing the return flux and evaluate the performance of chirping for operation at La Palma. According to our simulations, the optimal chirp rate lies between 0.8-1.0 MHz/$mu$s and an increase in the fluorescence of the sodium guide star up to 60% can be achieved with current 20 W-class guide star lasers.
We revisit one class of z-invariant WaveFront sensor where the LGS is fired aside of the telescope aperture. In this way there is a spatial dependence on the focal plane with respect to the height where the resonant scattering occurs. We revise the basic parameters involving the geometry and we propose various merit functions to define how much improvement can be attained by a z-invariant approach. We show that refractive approaches are not viable and we discuss several solutions involving reflective ones in what has been nicknamed ingot wavefront sensor discussing the degrees of freedom required to keep tracking and the basic recipe for the optical design.
Segmented primary mirrors are indispensable to master the steady increase in spatial resolution. Phasing optics systems must reduce segment misalignments to guarantee the high optical quality required for astronomical science programs. Modern telescopes routinely use adaptive optics systems to compensate for the atmosphere and use laser-guide-stars to create artificial stars as bright references in the field of observation. Because multiple laser-guide-star adaptive optics are being implemented in all major observatories, we propose to use man-made stars not only for adaptive optics, but for phasing optics. We propose a method called the doublet-wavelength coherence technique (DWCT), exploiting the D lines of sodium in the mesosphere using laser guide-stars. The signal coherence properties are then used. The DWCT capture range exceeds current abilities by a factor of 100. It represents a change in paradigm by improving the phasing optics capture range from micrometric to millimetric. It thereby potentially eliminates the need of a man-made mechanical pre-phasing step. Extremely large telescopes require hundreds of segments, several of which need to be substituted on a daily basis to be recoated. The DWCT relaxes mechanical integration requirements and speeds up integration and re-integration process.
The performance of adaptive optics systems is partially dependant on the algorithms used within the real-time control system to compute wavefront slope measurements. We demonstrate use of a matched filter algorithm for the processing of elongated laser guide star (LGS) Shack-Hartmann images, using the CANARY adaptive optics instrument on the 4.2m William Herschel Telescope and the European Southern Observatory Wendelstein LGS Unit placed 40m away. This algorithm has been selected for use with the forthcoming Thirty Meter Telescope, but until now had not been demonstrated on-sky. From the results of a first observing run, we show that the use of matched filtering improves our adaptive optics system performance, with increases in on-sky H-band Strehl measured up to about a factor of 1.1 with respect to a conventional centre of gravity approach. We describe the algorithm used, and the methods that we implemented to enable on-sky demonstration.
Adaptive optics (AO) is a key technology for ground-based optical and infrared astronomy, providing high angular resolution and sensitivity. AO systems employing laser guide stars (LGS) can achieve high sky coverage, but their performance is limited by LGS return flux. We examine the potential of two new approaches that might produce high-intensity atmospheric laser beacons. Amplified spontaneous emission could potentially boost the intensity of beacons produced by conventional resonant excitation of atomic or molecular species in the upper atmosphere. This requires the production of a population inversion in an electronic transition that is optically-thick to stimulated emission. Potential excitation mechanisms include continuous wave pumping, pulsed excitation and plasma generation. Alternatively, a high-power femtosecond pulsed laser could produce a white-light supercontinuum high in the atmosphere. The broad-band emission from such a source could also facilitate the sensing of the tilt component of atmospheric turbulence.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
