KEYWORDS: Satellites, Space telescopes, Sensors, Stars, Telescopes, Signal to noise ratio, Detection and tracking algorithms, Satellite imaging, Imaging systems, Global Positioning System
The Space-based Telescopes for Actionable Refinement of Ephemeris (STARE) program will collect the information needed to help satellite operators avoid collisions in space by using a network of nanosatellites to determine more accurate trajectories for selected space objects orbiting the Earth. In the first phase of the STARE program, two pathfinder cube-satellites (CubeSats) equipped with an optical imaging payload are being developed and deployed to demonstrate the main elements of the STARE concept. We first give an overview of the STARE program. The details of the optical imaging payload for the STARE pathfinder CubeSats are then described, followed by a description of the track detection algorithm that will be used on the images it acquires. Finally, simulation results that highlight the effectiveness of the mission are presented.
KEYWORDS: Satellites, Sensors, Stars, Space telescopes, Signal to noise ratio, Image segmentation, Detection and tracking algorithms, Satellite imaging, Telescopes, Space operations
The Space-based Telescopes for Actionable Refinement of Ephemeris (STARE) program will collect the information
needed to help satellite operators avoid collisions in space by using a network of nano-satellites to determine
more accurate trajectories for selected space objects orbiting the Earth. In the first phase of the STARE program,
two pathfinder cube-satellites (CubeSats) equipped with an optical imaging payload are being developed
and deployed to demonstrate the main elements of the STARE concept. In this paper, we first give an overview
of the STARE program. We then describe the details of the optical imaging payload for the STARE pathfinder
CubeSats, including the optical design and the sensor characterization. Finally, we discuss the track detection
algorithm that will be used on the images acquired by the payload.
KEYWORDS: Telescopes, Satellites, Space telescopes, Monte Carlo methods, Computer simulations, Device simulation, Space operations, Systems modeling, Radar, Sensors
Orbital collisions pose a hazard to space operations. Using a high performance computer modeling and simulation
environment for space situational awareness, we explore a new paradigm for improving satellite conjunction analysis by
obtaining more precise orbital information only for those objects that pose a collision risk greater than a defined
threshold to a specific set of satellites during a specified time interval. In particular, we assess the improvement in the
quality of the conjunction analysis that can be achieved using a distributed network of ground-based telescopes.
Micro-electrical-mechanical-systems (MEMS) deformable mirrors (DMs) are under study at the Laboratory for
Adaptive Optics for inclusion in possible future adaptive optics systems, including open loop or extreme adaptive
optics (ExAO) systems. MEMS DMs have several advantages in these areas because of low (to zero) hysterisis
and high actuator counts. In this paper, we present work in the area of high-contrast adaptive optics systems,
such as those needed to image extrasolar planets. These are known to require excellent wavefront control and
diffraction suppression. On the ExAO testbed we have already demonstrated wavefront control of better than
1 nm rms within controllable spatial frequencies, however, corresponding contrast measurements are limited by
amplitude variations, including variations introduced by the MEMS. Results from experimental measurements
and wave optic simulations on the ExAO testbed will be presented. In particular the effect of small scale
MEMS structures on amplitude variations and ultimately high-contrast far field measurements will be examined.
Experimental results include interferometer measurements of phase and amplitude using the phase shifting
diffraction interferometer, direct imaging of the pupil, and far-field imaging.
High-contrast adaptive optics systems, such as those needed to image extrasolar planets, are known to require
excellent wavefront control and diffraction suppression. At the Laboratory for Adaptive Optics on the Extreme
Adaptive Optics testbed, we have already demonstrated wavefront control of better than 1 nm rms within controllable
spatial frequencies. Corresponding contrast measurements, however, are limited by amplitude variations,
including those introduced by the micro-electrical-mechanical-systems (MEMS) deformable mirror. Results from
experimental measurements and wave optic simulations of amplitude variations on the ExAO testbed are presented.
We find systematic intensity variations of about 2% rms, and intensity variations with the MEMS to
be 6%. Some errors are introduced by phase and amplitude mixing because the MEMS is not conjugate to
the pupil, but independent measurements of MEMS reflectivity suggest that some error is introduced by small
non-uniformities in the reflectivity.
Imaging faint companions (exoplanets and brown dwarfs) around nearby stars is currently limited by speckle noise. To efficiently attenuate this noise, a technique called simultaneous spectral differential imaging (SSDI) can be used. This technique consists of acquiring simultaneously images of the field of view in several adjacent narrow bands and in combining these images to suppress speckles. Simulations predict that SSDI can achieve, with the acquisition of three wavelengths, speckle noise attenuation of several thousands. These simulations are usually performed using the Fraunhofer approximation, i.e. considering that all aberrations are located in the pupil plane. We have performed wavefront propagation simulations to evaluate how out-of-pupil-plane aberrations affect SSDI speckle noise attenuation performance. The Talbot formalism is used to give a physical insight of the problem; results are confirmed using a proper wavefront propagation algorithm. We will show that near-focal-plane aberrations can significantly reduce SSDI speckle noise attenuation performance at several λ/D separation. It is also shown that the Talbot effect correctly predicts the PSF chromaticity. Both differential atmospheric refraction effects and the use of a coronagraph will be discussed.
A simple analytic form for the intensity point spread function is obtained in terms of the power spectral density function for the phase. Two fourier transforms are required to compute the psf from the psd (A third fourier transform is needed to give the fraction of the light in the core). The analytic form is an infinite sum of convolution integrals of increasing order in the psd function multiplied by the simple renormalization factor exp(-sigma^2), where sigma^2 is the two-dimensional integral of the psd in radians squared. Computationally, the psf is evaluated on a discrete grid in kx-ky space. This infinite sum can be evaluated at all pixels other than the zero frequency pixel by taking the two-dimensional complex fourier transform X of the psd, computing exp(X)-1, and then taking the inverse fourier transform. There is also a simple expression for the value at the zero spatial frequency pixel. Like the psd, the psf is smooth because the psf is an ensemble average over all realizations for the phase: Each realization of the phase gives an intensity speckle pattern in the focal plane. The psf is the ensemble average over all realizations. This transformation has been extensively tested for azimuthally symmetric phase psd functions by comparing the computed psf using the analytic transformation with the azimuthally averaged psf computed using a specific realization for the phase. The psd functions that were compared this way were all azimuthally symmetric, but the analytic transformation from psd to psf doesn't require this. The final result for the halo is equivalent to the result in Hardy1 when the pupil is infinite. The derivation in this paper is simple and direct.
The two-sided pyramid wavefront sensor has been extensively simulated in the direct phase mode using a wave optics code. The two-sided pyramid divides the focal plane so that each half of the core only interferes with the speckles in its half of the focal plane. A relayed image of the pupil plane is formed at the CCD camera for each half. Antipodal speckle pairs are separated so that a pure phase variation causes amplitude variations in the two images. The phase is reconstructed from the difference of the two amplitudes by transforming cosine waves into sine waves using the Hilbert transform. There are also other corrections which have to be applied in Fourier space. The two-sided pyramid wavefront sensor performs extremely well: After two or three iterations, the phase error varies purely in y. The twosided pyramid pair enables the phase to be completely reconstructed. Its performance has been modeled closed loop with atmospheric turbulence and wind. Both photon noise and read noise were included. The three-sided and four-sided pyramid wavefront sensors have also been studied in direct phase mode. Neither performs nearly as well as does the two-sided pyramid wavefront sensor.
The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is a three mirror modified Paul-Baker design with an 8.4m primary, a
3.4m secondary, and a 5.0m tertiary followed by a 3-element refractive corrector producing a 3.5 degree field of view.
This design produces image diameters of <0.3 arcsecond 80% encircled energy over its full field of view. The image
quality of this design is sufficient to ensure that the final images produced by the telescope will be limited by the
atmospheric seeing at an excellent astronomical site. In order to maintain this image quality, the deformations and rigid
body motions of the three large mirrors must be actively controlled to minimize optical aberrations. By measuring the
optical wavefront produced by the telescope at multiple points in the field, mirror deformations and rigid body motions
that produce a good optical wavefront across the entire field may be determined. We will describe the details of the
techniques for obtaining these solutions. We will show that, for the expected mirror deformations and rigid body
misalignments, the solutions that are found using these techniques produce an image quality over the field that is close to
optimal. We will discuss how many wavefront sensors are needed and the tradeoffs between the number of wavefront
sensors, their layout and noise sensitivity.
Direct detection of extrasolar Jovian planets is a major scientific motivation for the construction of future extremely
large telescopes such as the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). Such detection will require dedicated high-contrast AO
systems. Since the properties of Jovian planets and their parent stars vary enormously between different populations, the
instrument must be designed to meet specific scientific needs rather than a simple metric such as maximum Strehl ratio.
We present a design for such an instrument, the Planet Formation Imager (PFI) for TMT. It has four key science
missions. The first is the study of newly-formed planets on 5-10 AU scales in regions such as Taurus and Ophiucus -
this requires very small inner working distances that are only possible with a 30m or larger telescope. The second is a
robust census of extrasolar giant planets orbiting mature nearby stars. The third is detailed spectral characterization of
the brightest extrasolar planets. The final targets are circumstellar dust disks, including Zodiacal light analogs in the
inner parts of other solar systems. To achieve these, PFI combines advanced wavefront sensors, high-order MEMS
deformable mirrors, a coronagraph optimized for a finely- segmented primary mirror, and an integral field spectrograph.
Direct observation of extrasolar Jovian planets will enable detailed investigation and understanding of the formation of these planet populations and also of their relative abundance. Future large telescopes, such as the Thirty Meter Telescope(TMT), will enable the study of such planet populations at relatively small working distances from the parent star. We present an analysis of an extreme adaptive optics system utilizing a self-referencing phase-shifting interferometer as the primary wave-front sensor. A module of the adaptive optics system consists of a conventional Shack-Hartmann wave-front sensor to provide the initial start-up of the adaptive optics system, thereby placing a significant amount of energy into the core of the point spread function which will act as the reference for the primary interferometric wave-front sensor. The interferometric-based wave-front sensor is shown to provide a significant improvement in the achievable contrast ratio compared with conventional adaptive optics systems containing Shack-Hartmann wave-front sensors.
We have built a visible light point-diffraction interferometer with the purpose to characterize EUVL projection optics. The interferometer operates at the wavelength of 532 nm and utilizes two identical pinhole wavefront reference sources for generation of both signal and reference wavefronts. In the simple configuration of our interferometer, the main source of system error is the pinhole reference wavefronts. It is important that the reference wavefronts are calibrated and the calibration is stable. The calibration using our refractive test optic is reproducible to better than 0.1 nm RMS. The interferometer measured the wavefront of our refractive test optic with the repeatability of 0.1nm RMS. This paper will discuss the error sources and removal of the errors with experimental results.
Since 1993, research in the fabrication of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) optical imaging systems, conducted at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), has produced the highest resolution optical systems ever made. We have pioneered the development of ultra-high-accuracy optical testing and alignment methods, working at extreme ultraviolet wavelengths, and pushing wavefront-measuring interferometry into the 2-20-nm wavelength range (60-600 eV). These coherent measurement techniques, including lateral shearing interferometry and phase-shifting point-diffraction interferometry (PS/PDI) have achieved RMS wavefront measurement accuracies of 0.5-1-Å and better for primary aberration terms, enabling the creation of diffraction-limited EUV optics. The measurement accuracy is established using careful null-testing procedures, and has been verified repeatedly through high-resolution imaging. We believe these methods are broadly applicable to the advancement of short-wavelength optical systems including space telescopes, microscope objectives, projection lenses, synchrotron beamline optics, diffractive and holographic optics, and more. Measurements have been performed on a tunable undulator beamline at LBNL's Advanced Light Source (ALS), optimized for high coherent flux; although many of these techniques should be adaptable to alternative ultraviolet, EUV, and soft x-ray light sources. To date, we have measured nine prototype all-reflective EUV optical systems with NA values between 0.08 and 0.30 (f/6.25 to f/1.67). These projection-imaging lenses were created for the semiconductor industry's advanced research in EUV photolithography, a technology slated for introduction in 2009-13. This paper reviews the methods used and our program's accomplishments to date.
The azimuthal Zernike coefficients for shells of Zernike functions with shell numbers n<N may be determined by making measurements at N equally spaced rotational positions. However, these measurements do not determine the coefficients of any of the purely radial Zernike functions. Label the circle that the azimuthal Zernikes are measured in as circle A. Suppose that the azimuthal Zernike coefficients for n<N are also measured in a smaller circle B which is inside circle A but offset so that it is tangent to circle A and so that it has the center of circle A just inside its circular boundary. The diameter of circle B is thus only slightly larger than half the diameter of circle A. From these two sets of measurements, all the Zernike coefficients may be determined for n<N. However, there are usually unknown small rigid body motions of the optic between measurements. Then all the Zernike coefficients for n<N except for piston, tilts, and focus may be determined. We describe the exact mathematical algorithm that does this and describe an interferometer which measures the complete wavefront from pinholes in pinhole aligners. These pinhole aligners are self-contained units which include a fiber optic, focusing optics, and a "pinhole mirror". These pinhole aligners can then be used in another interferometer so that its errors would then be known. Physically, the measurements in circles A and B are accomplished by rotating each pinhole aligner about an aligned axis, then about an oblique axis. Absolute measurement accuracies better than 0.2 nm were achieved.
We have built and calibrated a set of 532-nm wavelength wavefront reference sources that fill a numerical aperture of 0.3. Early data show that they have a measured departure from sphericity of less than 0.2 nm RMS (0.4 milliwaves) and a reproducibility of better than 0.05 nm rms. These devices are compact, portable, fiber-fed, and are intended as sources of measurement and reference waves in wavefront measuring interferometers used for metrology of EUVL optical elements and systems. Keys to wave front accuracy include fabrication of an 800-nm pinhole in a smooth reflecting surface as well as a calibration procedure capable of measuring axisymmetric and non-axisymmetric errors.
The success of recent static printing experiments at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Advanced Light Source (ALS) using the EUV LLC Engineering Test Stand (ETS) Set-2 optic has demonstrated the utility of synchrotron-based EUV exposure stations. Although not viable light sources for commercial lithography, synchrotrons provide clean, convenient, and extremely flexible sources for developmental microfield lithography. The great flexibility of synchrotron-based illumination arises from the fact that such sources facilitate active coherence reduction, thus enabling the coherence function, or pupil fill, to be actively sculpted in real time.
As the commercialization of EUV progresses, the focus of developmental EUV lithography is shifting from low numerical aperture (NA) tools such as the 0.1-NA ETS to higher-NA tools such as the 0.3-NA Micro Exposure Tool (MET). To support printing with MET optics at the ALS, a new printing station has been developed, relying on a scanning illuminator to provide programmable coherence (pupil-fill) control. The illuminator is designed to operate up to a coherence factor (s) of 1 and support the full 200′600 design printed field of view. In addition to a new illuminator design, new focus sensing and dose-control systems have also been implemented. Here we describe the MET printing capabilities in detail and present preliminary printing results with the Sematech Set-2 MET optic.
Future extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) steppers will, in all likelihood, have six-mirror projection cameras. To operate at the diffraction limit over an acceptable depth of focus each aspheric mirror will have to be fabricated with an absolute figure accuracy approaching 100pm rms. We are currently developing visible light interferometry to meet this need based on modifications of our present phase shifting diffraction interferometry (PSDI) methodology where we achieved an absolute accuracy of 250pm. The basic PSDI approach has been further simplified, using lensless imaging based on computational diffractive back-propagation, to eliminate auxiliary optics that typically limit measurement accuracy. Small remaining error sources, related to geometric positioning, CCD camera pixel spacing and laser wavelength, have been modeled and measured. Using these results we have estimated the total system error for measuring off-axis aspheric EUVL mirrors with this new approach to interferometry.
We have developed a fast, sensitive neutron detector for recording the fusion reaction-rate history of inertial-confinement fusion (ICF) experiments. The detector is based on the fast rise-time of a commercial plastic scintillator (BC-422) and has a response < 25 ps FWHM. A thin piece of scintillator material acts as a neutron-to-light converter. A zoom lens images light from the scintillator surface to a high-speed (15 ps) optical streak camera for recording. The zoom lens allows the scintillator to be positioned between 1 and 50 cm from a target. The camera simultaneously records an optical fiducial pulse which allows the camera time base to be calibrated relative to the incident laser power. Bursts of x rays formed by focusing 20 ps, 2.5 TW laser pulses onto gold disk targets demonstrate the detector resolution to be < 25 ps. We have recorded burn histories for deuterium/tritium-filled targets producing as few as 3 X 107 neutrons.
Soft x-ray projection lithography (SXPL) may be used to fabricate high-resolution structures for future integrated circuits. This technique uses a reflection mask which is a substrate coated with an x-ray multilayer mirror and patterned with a thin (approximately 50 nm) layer of x-ray absorber. Mask patterning processes must not degrade the reflectivity of the x-ray mirror and mask repair techniques must be developed. The technical challenges of conventional reflecting optical imaging system designs are severe and mask technology can have a significant impact on this issue. Specifically, innovative mask designs can reduce the complexity of the optical system by decreasing the number of mirrors and replacing aspheric optical surfaces with spherical surfaces. We have developed a technique, called Encoded Mask Lithography, with which we have designed an optical system which uses only two (spherical) imaging mirrors and has < 100 nm spatial resolution, negligible distortion, and > 30 mm diameter field of view.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.