The optical alignment of the Gemini planet imager adaptive optics bench

摘要

The Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) is a facility instrument under construction for the 8-m Gemini South telescope. Thispaper describes the methods used for optical alignment of the adaptive optics (AO) bench. The optical alignment of theoff-axis paraboloid mirrors was done using a pre-alignment method utilizing a HeNe laser and alignment telescopesfollowed by a fine-tuning using a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor and a shear plate. A FARO arm measuring systemwas used to place the fiducials for the alignment. Using these methods the AO bench was aligned to 13nm RMS ofwavefront error.© (2012) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.