A double-focus collimator system for full PAT performance testing of inter-satellite laser communication terminals

Abstract

A laser collimator is necessary for the testing and verification of the PAT performance of inter-satellite laser communication terminals. However, the terminals mostly have a large field of view for the acquisition and a high angular accuracy for the fine tracking needed to be examined. A single collimator has the conflict to reach at both a large field of view and a fine resolution. To compromise, a double-focus laser collimator is proposed. The collimator is mainly composed of a primary lens, a beam splitter, a secondary lens and some reflectors. The primary lens with a 9.9m focal length directly forms the long focal length arm of the collimator. The combination of the primary lens and the secondary lens has a new focal length of 1.3m and constructs the short focal length arm of the collimator. With two CMOS imaging sensors, the collimator can realize a 1.1mrad field of view with a <1μrad resolution in the focal plane of the long focal length arm and a 8.3mrad field of view with a 8.2μrad resolution in the focal plane of the short focal length arm. In combination with a coarse beam scanner (±15°) and a fine beam scanner (1mrad) to simulate the mutual angular movement between two satellites, the united system is capable to test the full PAT performance of inter-satellite laser communication terminals. The optical layouts of the collimator and two detecting units are illustrated. The optical design of the collimator is detailed. The mechanical design of the collimator is given.