Focal plane metrology for the LSST camera

Abstract

Meeting the science goals for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) translates into a demanding set of imaging performance requirements for the optical system over a wide (3.5°) field of view. In turn, meeting those imaging requirements necessitates maintaining precise control of the focal plane surface (10 μm P-V) over the entire field of view (640 mm diameter) at the operating temperature (T ~ -100°C) and over the operational elevation angle range. We briefly describe the heirarchical design approach for the LSST Camera focal plane and the baseline design for assembling the flat focal plane at room temperature. Preliminary results of gravity load and thermal distortion calculations are provided, and early metrological verification of candidate materials under cold thermal conditions are presented. A detailed, generalized method for stitching together sparse metrology data originating from differential, non-contact metrological data acquisition spanning multiple (non-continuous) sensor surfaces making up the focal plane, is described and demonstrated. Finally, we describe some in situ alignment verification alternatives, some of which may be integrated into the camera's focal plane.