Investigation of Closed Loop Adaptive Optics with the Deformable Mirror not in Pupil- Part 2: Theory (POSTPRINT)

摘要

This is the second of two papers discussing aspects of placing the deformable mirror in a location not conjugate to the pupil plane telescope. The Starfire Optical Range, Air Force Research Laboratory is in the process of developing a high efficiency adaptive optics (AO) system for its 3.5m telescope. The objective is to achieve maximum optical throughput while maintaining diffraction limited performance. This can be achieved by minimizing the number of optical elements which then implies placing the AO system on gimbal. Doing so forces the deformable mirror (DM) to not be conjugate to the pupil. However, placing the DM so that it is not conjugate to the pupil results in degradation in Strehl. Wave optics simulation has shown a 7-15% degradation in Strehl. In the previous paper, we experimentally measured this degradation. Then we determine a means to mitigate this degradation in a manner that is implementable on conventional AO systems. Simulation results are presented to validate the veracity of the mitigation technique.