The Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) is a high-contrast imaging instrument designed to directly detect and characterize young, Jupiter-mass exoplanets. After six years of operation at Gemini South in Chile, the instrument is being upgraded and relocated to Gemini North in Hawaii as GPI 2.0. GPI helped establish that Jovian-mass planets have a higher occurrence rate at smaller separations, motivating several sub-system upgrades to obtain deeper contrasts (up to 20 times improvement to the current limit), particularly at small inner working angles. This enables access to additional science areas for GPI 2.0, including low-mass stars, young nearby stars, solar system objects, planet formation in disks, and planet variability. The necessary instrumental changes required toenable these new scientific goals are to (i) the adaptive optics system, by replacing the current Shack-Hartmann Wavefront Sensor (WFS) with a pyramid WFS and a custom EMCCD, (ii) the integral field spectrograph, by employing a new set of prisms to enable an additional broadband (Y-K band) low spectral resolution mode, as well as replacing the pupil viewer camera with a faster, lower noise C-RED2 camera (iii) the calibration interferometer, by upgrading the low-order WFS used for internal alignment and on-sky target tracking with a C-RED2 camera and replacing the calibration high-order WFS used for measuring and correcting non-common path aberrations with a self coherent camera, (iv) the apodized-pupil Lyot coronagraph designs and (v) the software, to enable high-efficiency queue operations at Gemini North. GPI 2.0 is expected to go on-sky in early 2024. Here I will present the new scientific goals, the key upgrades, the current status and the latest timeline for operations.
The Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) is a high contrast imaging instrument designed to directly detect and characterize young Jupiter-mass exoplanets. After six years of operation at Gemini South in Chile, the instrument is being upgraded and moved to Gemini North in Hawaii as GPI 2.0. As part of this upgrade, several improvements will be made to the adaptive optics (AO) system. This includes replacing the current Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor (WFS) with a pyramid wavefront sensor (PWFS) and a custom EMCCD. These changes are expected to increase GPI’s sky coverage by accessing fainter targets, improving corrections on fainter stars and allowing faster and ultra-low latency operations on brighter targets. The PWFS subsystem is being independently built and tested to verify its performance before its integration into the GPI 2.0 instrument. In this paper, we will present the design and pre-integration test plan of the PWFS.
As part of the Keck All-sky Precision Adaptive optics (KAPA) project a laser Asterism Generator (AG) is being implemented on the Keck I telescope. The AG provides four Laser Guide Stars (LGS) to the Keck Adaptive Optics (AO) system by splitting a single 22W laser beam into four beams of equal intensity. We present the design and implementation of the AG for KAPA. We discuss the optical design and layout, the details of the mechanical design and fabrication, and the challenges of designing the assembly to fit into the limited available space on the Keck telescope.
GPI is a facility instrument designed for the direct detection and characterization of young Jupiter mass exoplanets. GPI has helped establish that the occurrence rate of Jovian planets peaks near the snow line (~3 AU), and falls off toward larger separations. This motivates an upgrade of GPI to achieve deeper contrasts, especially at small inner working angles, to extend GPI’s operating range to fainter stars, and to broaden its scientific capabilities, all while leveraging its historical success. GPI was packed and shipped in 2022, and is undergoing a major science-driven upgrade. We present the status and purpose of the upgrades including an EMCCD-based pyramid wavefront sensor, broadband low spectral resolution prisms, new apodized-pupil Lyot coronagraph designs, upgrades of the calibration wavefront sensor and increased queue operability. We discuss the expected performance improvements and enhanced science capabilities to be made available in 2024.
We present the design of SCALES (Slicer Combined with Array of Lenslets for Exoplanet Spectroscopy) a new 2-5 micron coronagraphic integral field spectrograph under construction for Keck Observatory. SCALES enables low-resolution (R∼50) spectroscopy, as well as medium-resolution (R∼4,000) spectroscopy with the goal of discovering and characterizing cold exoplanets that are brightest in the thermal infrared. Additionally, SCALES has a 12x12” field-of-view imager that will be used for general adaptive optics science at Keck. We present SCALES’s specifications, its science case, its overall design, and simulations of its expected performance. Additionally, we present progress on procuring, fabricating and testing long lead-time components.
The Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) is a dedicated high-contrast imaging facility designed for the direct detection and characterization of young Jupiter mass exoplanets. After six yrs of operation at Gemini South, GPI has helped establish that Jovian planets are rare at wide separations, but have higher occurrence rates at small separations. This motivates an upgrade of GPI to achieve deeper contrasts, especially at small inner working angles, while leveraging its current capabilities. GPI has been funded to undergo a major science-driven upgrade as part of a relocation to Gemini North (GN). Gemini plans to remove GPI at the end of 2020A. We present the status of the proposed upgrades to GPI including a EMCCD-based pyramid wavefront sensor, broadband low spectral resolution prisms and new apodized-pupil Lyot coronagraph designs. We discuss the expected performance improvements in the context of GPI 2.0's enhanced science capabilities which are scheduled to be made available at GN in 2022.
After more than six years of successful operation at Gemini South, the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) will be moved to Gemini-North. During this move, the instrument will undergo a series of upgrades. One of these upgrades will be the installation of a new pyramid wavefront sensor (PWFS) with a low noise EMCCD detector that will replace the current Shack-Hartmann WFS. This upgrade is expected to significantly increase the sky coverage of GPI, providing increased level of AO correction and access to fainter targets. The new PWFS will be assembled on a standalone bench that will be aligned and tested independent of the GPI to ensure the required performance is achieved. Once the performance is verified, the completed subassembly will be installed in place of the current WFS hardware during the final integration into the GPI. In this paper, we will present the final design of the new GPI PWFS. Included will be a description of the optical performance simulations completed and their results, and a detailed overview of the opto-mechanical design of the new PWFS bench.
Microsatellite market requires high performance while minimizing mass, volume and cost. Telescopes are specifically targeted by these trade-offs. One of these is to use the optomechanical structure of the telescope to mount electronic devices that may dissipate heat. However, such approach may be problematic in terms of distortions due to the presence of high thermal gradients throughout the telescope structure. To prevent thermal distortions, Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) technology can be used for the optomechanical telescope material structure. CFRP is typically about 100 times less sensitive to thermal gradients and its coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) is about 200 to 600 times lower than standard aluminum alloys according to inhouse measurements. Unfortunately, designing with CFRP material is not as straightforward as with metallic materials. There are many parameters to consider in order to reach the desired dimensional stability under thermal, moisture and vibration exposures. Designing optomechanical structures using CFRP involves many challenges such as interfacing with optics and sometimes dealing with high CTE mounting interface structures like aluminum spacecraft buses. INO has designed a CFRP sandwich telescope structure to demonstrate the achievable performances of such technology. Critical parameters have been optimized to maximize the dimensional stability while meeting the stringent environmental requirements that microsatellite payloads have to comply with. The telescope structure has been tested in vacuum from -40°C to +50°C and has shown a good fit with finite element analysis predictions.
The adaptive optics system for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) is the Narrow-Field InfraRed Adaptive Optics System (NFIRAOS). Recently, INO has been involved in the optomechanical design of several subsystems of NFIRAOS, including the Instrument Selection Mirror (ISM), the NFIRAOS Beamsplitters (NBS), and the NFIRAOS Source Simulator system (NSS) comprising the Focal Plane Mask (FPM), the Laser Guide Star (LGS) sources, and the Natural Guide Star (NGS) sources. This paper presents an overview of these subsystems and the optomechanical design approaches used to meet the optical performance requirements under environmental constraints.
The early-light facility adaptive optics system for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) is the Narrow-Field InfraRed Adaptive Optics System (NFIRAOS). The science beam splitter changer mechanism and the visible light beam splitter are subsystems of NFIRAOS. This paper presents the opto-mechanical design of the NFIRAOS beam splitters subsystems (NBS). In addition to the modal and the structural analyses, the beam splitters surface deformations are computed considering the environmental constraints during operation. Surface deformations are fit to Zernike polynomials using SigFit software. Rigid body motion as well as residual RMS and peak-to-valley surface deformations are calculated. Finally, deformed surfaces are exported to Zemax to evaluate the transmitted and reflected wave front error. The simulation results of this integrated opto-mechanical analysis have shown compliance with all optical requirements.
This paper describes the current opto-mechanical design of NFIRAOS (Narrow Field InfraRed Adaptive Optics System) for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). The preliminary design update review for NFIRAOS was successfully held in December 2011, and incremental design progress has since occurred on several fronts. The majority of NFIRAOS is housed within an insulated and cooled enclosure, and operates at -30 C to reduce background emissivity. The cold optomechanics are attached to a space-frame structure, kinematically supported by bipods that penetrate the insulated enclosure. The bipods are attached to an exo-structure at ambient temperature, which also supports up to three client science instruments and a science calibration unit.
This paper reports on the deposition of vanadium oxide thin films with sheet resistance uniformity better than 2.5% over a 150 mm wafer. The resistance uniformity within the array is estimated to be less than 1%, which is comparable with the value reported for amorphous silicon-based microbolometer arrays. In addition, this paper also shows that the resistivity of vanadium oxide, like amorphous silicon, can be modeled by Arrhenius' equation. This result is expected to significantly ease the computation of the correction table required for TEC-less operation of VOx-based microbolometer arrays.
In carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) optomechanical structures, particularly when embodying reflective optics, angular stability is critical. Angular stability or warping stability is greatly affected by moisture absorption and thermal gradients. Unfortunately, it is impossible to achieve the perfect laminate and there will always be manufacturing errors in trying to reach a quasi-iso laminate. Some errors, such as those related to the angular position of each ply and the facesheet parallelism (for a bench) can be easily monitored in order to control the stability more adequately. This paper presents warping experiments and finite-element analyses (FEA) obtained from typical optomechanical sandwich structures. Experiments were done using a thermal vacuum chamber to cycle the structures from −40°C to 50°C. Moisture desorption tests were also performed for a number of specific configurations. The selected composite material for the study is the unidirectional prepreg from Tencate M55J/TC410. M55J is a high modulus fiber and TC410 is a new-generation cyanate ester designed for dimensionally stable optical benches. In the studied cases, the main contributors were found to be: the ply angular errors, laminate in-plane parallelism (between 0° ply direction of both facesheets), fiber volume fraction tolerance and joints. Final results show that some tested configurations demonstrated good warping stability. FEA and measurements are in good agreement despite the fact that some defects or fabrication errors remain unpredictable. Design guidelines to maximize the warping stability by taking into account the main dimensional stability contributors, the bench geometry and the optical mount interface are then proposed.
We provide an update on the development of the first light adaptive optics systems for the Thirty Meter Telescope
(TMT) over the past two years. The first light AO facility for TMT consists of the Narrow Field Infra-Red AO
System (NFIRAOS) and the associated Laser Guide Star Facility (LGSF). This order 60 × 60 laser guide star
(LGS) multi-conjugate AO (MCAO) architecture will provide uniform, diffraction-limited performance in the
J, H, and K bands over 17-30 arc sec diameter fields with 50 per cent sky coverage at the galactic pole, as
is required to support TMT science cases. Both NFIRAOS and the LGSF have successfully completed design
reviews during the last twelve months. We also report on recent progress in AO component prototyping, control
algorithm development, and system performance analysis.
NFIRAOS is the first-light adaptive optics system planned for the Thirty Meter Telescope, and is being designed at the
National Research Council of Canada's Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics. NFIRAOS is a laser guide star multiconjugate
adaptive optics system - a practical approach to providing diffraction limited image quality in the NIR over a
30" field of view, with high sky coverage. This will enable a wide range of TMT science that depends upon the large
corrected field of view and high precision astrometry and photometry. We review recent progress developing the design
and conducting performance estimates for NFIRAOS.
The use of uncooled infrared (IR) imaging technology in Thermal Weapon Sight (TWS) systems produces a unique tool
that perfectly fulfills the all-weather, day-and-night vision demands in modern battlefields by significantly increasing the
effectiveness and survivability of a dismounted soldier. The main advantage of IR imaging is that no illumination is
required; therefore, observation can be accomplished in a passive mode. It is particularly well adapted for target
detection even through smoke, dust, fog, haze, and other battlefield obscurants. In collaboration with the Defense
Research and Development Canada (DRDC Valcartier), INO engineering team developed, produced, and tested a rugged
thermal weapon sight. An infrared channel provides for human detection at 800m and recognition at 200m. Technical
system requirements included very low overall weight as well as the need to be field-deployable and user-friendly in
harsh conditions. This paper describes the optomechanical design and focuses on the catadioptric-based system
integration. The system requirements forced the optomechanical engineers to minimize weight while maintaining a
sufficient level of rigidity in order to keep the tight optical tolerances. The optical system's main features are: a precision
manual focus, a watertight vibration insulated front lens, a bolometer and two gold coated aluminum mirrors. Finite
element analyses using ANSYS were performed to validate the subsystems performance. Some of the finite element
computations were validated using different laboratory setups.
A rugged lightweight thermal weapon sight (TWS) prototype was developed at INO in collaboration with
DRDC-Valcartier. This TWS model is based on uncooled bolometer technology, ultralight catadioptric
optics, ruggedized mechanics and electronics, and extensive onboard processing capabilities.
The TWS prototype operates in a single 8-12 μm infrared (IR) band. It is equipped with a unique
lightweight athermalized catadioptric objective and a bolometric IR imager with an INO focal plane array
(FPA). Microscan technology allows the use of a 160 x 120 pixel FPA with a pitch of 50 μm to achieve a
320 × 240 pixel resolution image thereby avoiding the size (larger optics) and cost (expensive IR optical
components) penalties associated with the use of larger format arrays. The TWS is equipped with a
miniature shutter for automatic offset calibration. Based on the operation of the FPA at 100 frames per
second (fps), real-time imaging with 320 x 240 pixel resolution at 25 fps is available. This TWS is also
equipped with a high resolution (857 x 600 pixels) OLED color microdisplay and an integrated wireless
digital RF link. The sight has an adjustable and selectable electronic reticule or crosshair (five possible
reticules) and a manual focus from 5 m to infinity standoff distance. Processing capabilities are added to
introduce specific functionalities such as image inversion (black hot and white hot), image enhancement,
and pixel smoothing. This TWS prototype is very lightweight (~ 1100 grams) and compact (volume of 93
cubic inches). It offers human size target detection at 800 m and recognition at 200 m (Johnson criteria).
With 6 Li AA batteries, it operates continuously for 5 hours and 20 minutes at room temperature. It can
operate over the temperature range of -30oC to +40oC and its housing is completely sealed. The TWS is
adapted to weaver or Picatinny rail mounting. The overall design of the TWS prototype is based on
feedbacks of users to achieve improved user-friendly (e.g. no pull-down menus and no electronic focusing)
and ergonomic (e.g. locations of buttons) features.
A dual band thermal/visible weapon sight (TVWS) prototype was developed by INO in collaboration with
DRDC Valcartier. The TVWS operates in the 8-12 μm infrared (IR) and 300-900 nm visible wavebands for
enhanced vision capabilities in day and night operations. It is equipped with lightweight athermalized
coaxial catadioptric objectives, a bolometric IR imager operating in a microscan mode providing an
effective resolution of 320 x 240 pixels and a visible image intensifier of 768 x 493 pixels. The TVWS is
equipped with a miniature shutter for automatic offset calibration. Real-time imaging at 30 fps is available.
Both the visible and IR images can be toggled with a single touch button and displayed on an integrated
color micro liquid crystal display (LCD). The TVWS also has a standard video output via a coaxial
connector. An integrated wireless analog RF link can be used to send images to a remote command control. The sight has an adjustable electronic crosshair and two manual focuses from 25 m to infinity. On-board
processing capabilities were added to introduce specific functionalities such as image polarity inversion
(black hot/white hot) and image enhancement. This TVWS model is also very lightweight (~ 1900 grams)
and compact (volume of 142 cubic inches). It offers human size target detection at 800 m and recognition at
200 m (Johnson criteria) with the IR waveband while offering the human recognition at up to 800 m with
the visible waveband. The TVWS is adapted for weaver or Picatinny rail mounting.
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