2024/09/06 by Vincent Chambouleyron, Chambouleyron, Vincent, Mahawa Cissé +19 · 1 citation
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Adaptive optics and wavefront sensing #FOS: Physical sciences #Inertial Sensor and Navigation #Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM) #Optical Systems and Laser Technology
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2409.04547
openalex publication_date 2024/09/06 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The Zernike wavefront sensor (ZWFS) stands out as one of the most sensitive optical systems for measuring the phase of an incoming wavefront, reaching photon efficiencies close to the fundamental limit. This quality, combined with the fact that it can easily measure phase discontinuities, has led to its widespread adoption in various wavefront control applications, both on the ground but also for future space-based instruments. Despite its advantages, the ZWFS faces a significant challenge due to its extremely limited dynamic range, making it particularly challenging for ground-based operations. To address this limitation, one approach is to use the ZWFS after a general adaptive optics (AO) system; however, even in this scenario, the dynamic range remains a concern. This paper investigates two optical configurations of the ZWFS: the conventional setup and its phase-shifted counterpart, which generates two distinct images of the telescope pupil. We assess the performance of various reconstruction techniques for both configurations, spanning from traditional linear reconstructors to gradient-descent-based methods. The evaluation encompasses simulations and experimental tests conducted on the Santa cruz Extreme Adaptive optics Lab (SEAL) bench at UCSC. Our findings demonstrate that certain innovative reconstruction techniques introduced in this study significantly enhance the dynamic range of the ZWFS, particularly when utilizing the phase-shifted version.