Performance measurements of a self-referencing interferometer wavefront sensor with optical amplification

摘要

The Self-Referencing Interferometer Wavefront Sensor (SRI WFS) has been shown to outperform conventional wavefront sensors in strong scintillation environments. Recently, the Starfire Optical Range has developed a prototype SRI to evaluate its performance. This paper discusses the purposes of optically amplifying the reference beam. Specifically, it addresses regions of operation where gain improves signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) values, and thus the SRI WFS performance. Conditions are also addressed when Amplified Spontaneous Emission (ASE) from the optical amplifier degrades the overall signal, resulting in less than acceptable SNR ratios. Laboratory measurements of SRI WFS performance with an optical amplifier are presented.