Active optical compensation of low-quality optical system aberrations

Abstract

We describe a method for the correction of slowly varying wavefront aberrations of low-quality telescope mirrors by using a DM in an active optical compensation system. Our goal is to reduce the surface wavefront error of low-cost multimeter-diameter mirrors from approximately 10 waves peak-to-valley (P-V), at a 1 microm wavelength, to approximately 1 wave or less. In a proof-of-concept demonstration using a 0.3m telescope at a wavelength of 633 nm, the rms wavefront error improved to 0.05 waves (0.26 waves P-V) from the original value of 1.4 waves rms (6.5 waves P-V). The Strehl ratio improved to 89% from the original value of 0.08%. The types of aberrations corrected include astigmatism, coma, defocus, trefoil, and higher-order aberrations.