User Manual
Doc. Number: ESO-323064
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3.2.1.2 Adaptive Optics
A technique to overcome the degrading e
ff
ects of atmospheric turbulence is real-time
compensation of the deformation of the WF by adaptive optics (AO, Figure 10).
Figure 10: Principle of Adaptive Optics. Note that in practice, and contrary to the this
schematic design, CRIRES has not dedicated tip-tilt mirror, but perform low- and high-order
correction with a single deformable mirror mounted on a tip-tilt stage (see Figure 12).
The wavefront sensor (WFS) measures WF distortions which are processed by a real-time
computer (RTC). The RTC controls a deformable mirror (DM) to compensate the WF
distortions. The DM is a continuous thin plate mirror mounted on a set of piezoelectric
actuators that push and pull on the back of the mirror. Because of the significant reduction
in the WF distortions by continuous AO correction, it is possible to record near diffraction-
limited images with exposure times that are significantly longer than the turbulence
coherence time. The residual error from the WF compensation (WF error) directly
determines the quality of the formed image. One of the main parameters characterizing this
image quality is the Strehl ratio (SR), which corresponds to the amount of light contained in
the di
ff
raction-limited core relative to the total flux.
An AO system is a servo-loop system working in closed loop. The DM flattens the incoming
WF and the WFS measures the residual WF error. A commonly used WFS is the Shack-
Hartmann WFS, used for example in NACO. However, CRIRES, as well as other ESO
MACAO systems, relies on a curvature WFS: it is designed to measure the WF curvature
as opposed to the WF slope. This is achieved by comparing the irradiance distributions of
two planes placed behind and in front of the focal plane. In practice, a variable curvature
mirror (membrane) is placed in the telescope focus. By vibrating, inside and outside focus
blurred pupil images can be imaged on a detector array: in the case of CRIRES, a lenslet
array feeds avalanche photo-diodes (APDs). The modulation frequency of the membrane
corresponds to the temporal sampling frequency of the WFS. The di
ff
erence between the
inside and outside pupil image measures the local WF curvature.