Calibration of force actuators on an adaptive secondary prototype

In the context of the Large Binocular Telescope project, we present the results of force actuator calibrations performed on an adaptive secondary prototype called P45, a thin deformable glass with magnets glued onto its back. Electromagnetic actuators, controlled in a closed loop with a system of internal metrology based on capacitive sensors, continuously deform its shape to correct the distortions of the wavefront. Calibrations of the force actuators are needed because of the differences between driven forces and measured forces. We describe the calibration procedures and the results, obtained with errors of less than 1.5%.Comment: 7 page

L'-band AGPM vector vortex coronagraph's first light on LBTI/LMIRCam

We present the first observations obtained with the L'-band AGPM vortex coronagraph recently installed on LBTI/LMIRCam. The AGPM (Annular Groove Phase Mask) is a vector vortex coronagraph made from diamond subwavelength gratings. It is designed to improve the sensitivity and dynamic range of high-resolution imaging at very small inner working angles, down to 0.09 arcseconds in the case of LBTI/LMIRCam in the L' band. During the first hours on sky, we observed the young A5V star HR\,8799 with the goal to demonstrate the AGPM performance and assess its relevance for the ongoing LBTI planet survey (LEECH). Preliminary analyses of the data reveal the four known planets clearly at high SNR and provide unprecedented sensitivity limits in the inner planetary system (down to the diffraction limit of 0.09 arcseconds).Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, SPIE proceeding

Exoplanet science with the LBTI: instrument status and plans

The Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI) is a strategic instrument of the LBT designed for high-sensitivity, high-contrast, and high-resolution infrared (1.5-13 $\mu$m) imaging of nearby planetary systems. To carry out a wide range of high-spatial resolution observations, it can combine the two AO-corrected 8.4-m apertures of the LBT in various ways including direct (non-interferometric) imaging, coronagraphy (APP and AGPM), Fizeau imaging, non-redundant aperture masking, and nulling interferometry. It also has broadband, narrowband, and spectrally dispersed capabilities. In this paper, we review the performance of these modes in terms of exoplanet science capabilities and describe recent instrumental milestones such as first-light Fizeau images (with the angular resolution of an equivalent 22.8-m telescope) and deep interferometric nulling observations.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, Proc. SPI

Concept, modeling, and performance prediction of a low-cost, large deformable mirror

While it is attractive to integrate a deformable mirror (DM) for adaptive optics (AO) into the telescope itself rather than using relay optics within an instrument, the resulting large DM can be expensive, particularly for extremely large telescopes. A low-cost approach for building a large DM is to use voice-coil actuators connected to the back of the DM through suction cups. Use of such inexpensive voice-coil actuators leads to a poorly damped system with many structural modes within the desired bandwidth. Control of the mirror dynamics using electro-mechanical sensors is thus required for integration within an AO system. We introduce a distributed control approach, and we show that the “inner” back sensor control loop does not need to function at low frequencies, leading to significant cost reduction for the sensors. Incorporating realistic models of low-cost actuators and sensors together with an atmospheric seeing model, we demonstrate that the low-cost mirror strategy is feasible within a closed-loop AO system

Infinite impulse response modal filtering in visible adaptive optics

Diffraction limited resolution adaptive optics (AO) correction in visible wavelengths requires a high performance control. In this paper we investigate infinite impulse response filters that optimize the wavefront correction: we tested these algorithms through full numerical simulations of a single-conjugate AO system comprising an adaptive secondary mirror with 1127 actuators and a pyramid wavefront sensor (WFS). The actual practicability of the algorithms depends on both robustness and knowledge of the real system: errors in the system model may even worsen the performance. In particular we checked the robustness of the algorithms in different conditions, proving that the proposed method can reject both disturbance and calibration errors