Simulation result of multi-conjugate adaptive optics system based on minimum mean square error approach wavefront reconstruction

Abstract

Currently, the multi-conjugate adaptive optics is one of the most promising concepts for large field of view adaptive optics compensation. The minimum mean square error (MMSE) approach is the main method for its wave-front reconstruction. In this article, firstly we briefly present the principle of three-dimension wavefront reconstruction; then the precision between the least square error (LSE), widely used in conventional adaptive optics, and the MMSE is compared by numerical simulation. We also did the study on the number of guide stars required to achieve a fixed field of view in different telescope aperture. The results show that the MMSE is more precise than LSE approach when the noise is considered; and more guide stars are needed for small aperture telescope. Finally, the system performance with different number of the guide stars for small aperture telescope is discussed.