A polychromatic pyramid wavefront sensor with MKID technology for extreme adaptive optics

Abstract

The next generation of adaptive optics (AO) systems have chosen the pyramid wavefront sensor (PWFS) that is renowned for its performance in closed-loop AO. With the advent of the extremely large telescope era, it is essential to investigate methods to enhance PWFS performance further. Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors (MKID) are photon-counting devices that record the arrival time and energy of each incident photon. They offer new capabilities beyond those of existing detectors and can significantly improve AO performance. This project aims to demonstrate how the use of an MKID can improve PWFS performance to meet the demanding requirements of an ELT instrument through simulation, laboratory tests and finally an on-sky demonstration. Here we introduce the project, presenting preliminary simulation results and detailing the optical bench.

Authors 8

1. Lisa F. Bardou

   Durham University

   Affiliation as printed

   Durham Univ. (United Kingdom)

2. Charlotte Z. Bond

   UK Astronomy Technology Centre

   Affiliation as printed

   UK Astronomy Technology Ctr. (United Kingdom)

3. Marta Escriche

   Durham University

   Affiliation as printed

   Durham Univ. (United Kingdom)

4. Deli Geng

   Durham University

   Affiliation as printed

   Durham Univ. (United Kingdom)

5. Tim Morris

   Durham University

   Affiliation as printed

   Durham Univ. (United Kingdom)

6. K. O’Brien

   Durham University

   Affiliation as printed

   Durham Univ. (United Kingdom)

7. Noah Schwartz

   UK Astronomy Technology Centre

   Affiliation as printed

   UK Astronomy Technology Ctr. (United Kingdom)

8. Pieter de Visser Aachen SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research

   Space Research Organisation Netherlands

   Affiliation as printed

   SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research (Netherlands)