A test bed to compare the performance of different wavefront sensory

Abstract

We report on a test bed to compare the performance of three different wavefront sensors, the Shack-Hartmann Wavefront Sensor (SHWFS), the Pyramid Wavefront Sensor (PWFS), and the non-linear Curvature Wavefront Sensor (nlCWFS). No single wavefront sensor easily allows for sensing all aspects of atmospheric turbulence. For instance the SHWFS has a large dynamic range and a linear response to input phase aberrations but is not sensitive to low order modes. The PWFS uses the full spatial resolution of the pupil which gives it increased sensitivity to low order modes, however it still treads the line between achieving high dynamic range and high sensitivity. The nlCWFS is the only wavefront sensor designed to sense low and high, spatial frequencies, however this leads to a complex algorithm. We discuss the reconstruction algorithm for each WFS along with simulated comparisons, we present the optical design for the WFS comparison tes tbed, and outline the adaptive optics controls system.