title: Experimental validation of Fourier-transform wave-front reconstruction at the Palomar Observatory.
abstract: Wave-front reconstruction with use of the Fourier transform has been validated through theory and simulation. This method provides a dramatic reduction in computational costs for large adaptive (AO) systems. Because such a reconstructor can be expressed as a matrix, it can be used as an alternative in a matrix-based AO control system. This was done with the Palomar Observatory AO system on the 200-in. Hale telescope. Results of these tests indicate that Fourier-transform wave-front reconstruction works in a real system. For both bright and dim stars, a Hudgin-geometry Fourier-transform method produced performance comparable to that of the Palomar Adaptive Optics least squares. The Fried-geometry method had a noticeable Strehl ratio performance degradation of 0.043 in the K band (165-nm rms wave-front error added in quadrature) on a dim star.
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA. poyneeer1@llnl.gov
authors.forename: Lisa A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Poyneer
authors.forename: Mitchell
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Troy
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Macintosh
authors.forename: Donald T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Gavel