Integration and alignment through mechanical measurements: the example of the ESPRESSO front-end units

Traditional techniques usually rely on optical feedback to align optical elements over all the degrees of freedom needed. This strongly iterative process implies the use of bulky and/or flexible adjustable mountings. Another solution under study consists in the characterization of every optomechanical elements and the integration of the parts without any optical feedback. The characterization can be performed using different 3D Coordinate Measuring Machines (like Laser Tracker, Articulated Arms and Cartesian ones) and referencing different parts like the optomechanical mounts or the optical surfaces. The alignment of the system is done adjusting the six degrees of freedom of every element with metallic shims. Those calibrated elements are used to correct the interfaces position of the semikinematic system composed by 3 screws and 3 pins. In this paper, the integration and alignment of the ESPRESSO Front End Units (FEUs) will be used as pathfinder to test different alignment methods and evaluate their performances

End-to-end modeling: a new modular and flexible approach

In this paper we present an innovative philosophy to develop the End-to-End model for astronomical observation projects, i.e. the architecture which allows physical modeling of the whole system from the light source to the reduced data. This alternative philosophy foresees the development of the physical model of the different modules, which compose the entire End-to-End system, directly during the project design phase. This approach is strongly characterized by modularity and flexibility; these aspects will be of relevant importance in the next generation astronomical observation projects like E-ELT (European Extremely Large Telescope) because of the high complexity and long-time design and development. With this approach it will be possible to keep the whole system and its different modules efficiently under control during every project phase and to exploit a reliable tool at a system engineering level to evaluate the effects on the final performance both of the main parameters and of different instrument architectures and technologies. This philosophy will be important to allow scientific community to perform in advance simulations and tests on the scientific drivers. This will translate in a continuous feedback to the (system) design process with a resulting improvement in the effectively achievable scientific goals and consistent tool for efficiently planning observation proposals and programs. We present the application case for this End-to-End modeling technique, which is the high resolution spectrograph at the E-ELT (E-ELT HIRES). In particular we present the definition of the system modular architecture, describing the interface parameters of the modules

Photochromic polyurethanes showing a strong change of transparency and refractive index

Photochromic polymers have been studied as rewritable systems for optical elements with tunable transparency in the visible and refractive index in the NIR. Six diarylethene monomers have been synthesized to give thin films of photochromic polyurethanes. The absorption properties of the monomers in solution and of the corresponding polymeric films have been evaluated showing that a transparency contrast in the visible spectrum of the order of 103can be obtained by a suitable choice of the chemical structure and illumination wavelength. The change in the refractive index in the NIR have been determined by ellipsometry showing changes larger than 10-2. A trend of this variation with the absorption properties has been also highlighted. Fresnel lenses working on the basis of both a change of the transparency and the refractive index (amplitude and phase) have been demonstrated

In vivo imaging of inhibitory, GABAergic neurons by MRI

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Spectrograph sensitivity analysis: an efficient tool for different design phases

In this paper we present an efficient tool developed to perform opto-mechanical tolerance and sensitivity analysis both for the preliminary and final design phases of a spectrograph. With this tool it will be possible to evaluate the effect of mechanical perturbation of each single spectrograph optical element in terms of image stability, i.e. the motion of the echellogram on the spectrograph focal plane, and of image quality, i.e. the spot size of the different echellogram wavelengths. We present the MATLAB-Zemax script architecture of the tool. In addition we present the detailed results concerning its application to the sensitivity analysis of the ESPRESSO spectrograph (the Echelle Spectrograph for Rocky Exoplanets and Stable Spectroscopic Observations which will be soon installed on ESO's Very Large Telescope) in the framework of the incoming assembly, alignment and integration phases

The interplay of soft-hard substituents in photochromic diarylethenes

A series of diarylethenes with substituents of different size and chemical nature was synthesised showing that beside some intermolecular interactions involving the central diarylethene core, lateral groups clearly play a key role in the crystal packing arrangements. These structural features were further analyzed in relation to the thermal data obtained by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and monitored using FT-IR spectroscopy, thus providing a rationalization of the observed thermal transitions processes. The role of van der Waals interactions is crucial in driving crystal packing formation towards loosely packed arrangements characterized by large hydrophobic contact areas. Interestingly, some functional substituents favour an amorphous state after thermal treatment, a peculiar feature that can be exploited to design uniform photochromic layers

Optical parametric evaluation model for a broadband high resolution spectrograph at E-ELT (E-ELT HIRES)

We present the details of a paraxial parametric model of a high resolution spectrograph which can be used as a tool, characterized by good approximation and reliability, at a system engineering level. This model can be exploited to perform a preliminary evaluation of the different parameters as long as different possible architectures of high resolution spectrograph like the one under design for the E-ELT (for the moment called E-ELT HIRES in order to avoid wrong association with the HIRES spectrograph at Keck telescope). The detailed equations flow concerning the first order effects of all the spectrograph components is described; in addition a comparison with the data of a complete physical ESPRESSO spectrograph model is presented as a model proof

Analysis of phase patterns in photochromic polyurethanes by a holographic approach

Photochromic polyurethanes based on diarylethene units show a large reversible modulation of refractive index in the Vis-NIR spectral region. The change of refractive index in the material is easily induced by visible laser illumination, without any optical or chemical post-process. In this paper, patterns at the micron scale range have been written by a suitable direct laser writing machine and characterized at 1550 nm by means of a digital holographic approach. The refractive index profile has been retrieved, its dependence on the film thickness and writing speed was shown. The writing process has also been modelled by means of a kinetic model, showing theoretically the dependence of the pattern width and profile on the writing conditions. It is demonstrated that the photochromic films are suitable for developing a reconfigurable platform for complex phase patterns working in the NIR. © 2015 Optical Society of America

Light-induced dipole moment modulation in diarylethenes: a fundamental study

The dipole moment of photochromic diarylethenes is determined in solution for both the coloured and uncoloured forms by measuring the capacitance of a capacitor filled with a photochromic solution as a dielectric material. Diarylethenes with different substituents are investigated and the modulation of the dipole moment is related to their chemical structures. We determine a modulation of the dipole moment up to 4 Debye. We discuss the model used to obtain the dipole moment from the capacitance measurements and we compare the experimental results with the outcomes from DFT calculations. The results highlight the importance of conformational effects in the description of the dipole moment of diarylethenes

An adaptive interferometer for optical testing

Interferometry is a well-established technique to test optical elements. However, its use is challenging in the case of free-form and aspheric elements, due to the lack of the reference optics. The proposed idea concerns the development of a versatile interferometer, where its reference arm is equipped with a reprogrammable Computer Generated Hologram. This principle takes advantage from our study on photochromic materials for optical applications, which shows a strong and reversible modulation of transparency in the visible region. The encoding of the desired hologram can be done off-line, or directly into the interferometer, and different patterns may be realized sequentially after the erasing of the previous hologram. We report on the present state of the research and on the future perspectives. skip=5p