The study of the universe through gravitational waves will yield a revolutionary new perspective on the universe, which has been intensely studied using electromagnetic waves in many wavelength bands. A space based gravitational wave observatory will enable access to a rich array of astrophysical sources in the measurement band from 0.1 mHz to 1 Hz. A space based mission complements ground based gravitational wave observatories, which typically search for signals at higher frequencies. LISA is a space based gravitational wave mission. Telescopes are one of the technology contributions from NASA to the European Space Agency (ESA) for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) Mission. ESA adopted the LISA mission in January of 2024. We will describe the key requirements for the flight telescopes and summarize the current status of the technology development effort.
The CANDLE Engineering Demonstration Unit (EDU) was selected by the 2022 APRA program to develop and demonstrate the ability to reach the flux accuracy and range required for an artificial flux calibration star. A critical issue in producing accurate and reliable flux calibration is systematic effects; this EDU is providing a path to deploying an artificial star calibration payload outside Earth’s atmosphere with SI-traceable calibration that enables accurate throughput characterization of astronomical and earth science observatories in space and on the ground. Such a payload could be carried independently on a dedicated platform such as an orbiting satellite, e.g. the Orbiting Configurable Artificial Star (ORCAS), by a star shade at L2, or some other independent platform to enable accurate end-to-end throughput vs. wavelength calibration that can be measured repeatedly throughout the operational lifetime of an observatory. Once calibrated, the observatory is enabled to carry out astrophysical programs whose science objectives demand high accuracy and/or high precision observations. One specific and immediate application is establishing SI-traceable standard stars beyond the current limited set. We show in this paper the progress made in developing this EDU.
We consider the requirements for first-order pupil location control using the matrix method for both finite-conjugate systems and afocal systems at infinite imaging conjugates. We show that two-element systems allow for only limited pupil location control, while with three elements or more the first-order pupil locations can be freely and independently controlled.
Freeform systems benefit from using base surfaces that are conics. We present two approaches that leverage the unique properties of conical optics that allow for near-null testability in component metrology and system assembly.
This Conference Presentation, “The CubeSat Lightning Imaging and Detection Experiment (CLIDE),” was recorded for Optics + Photonics 2021 held in San Diego, California, United States.
Optical designs for the next generation space science instruments call for unconventional, aspheric, and freeform (FF), prescriptions with tight tolerances. These advanced surfaces enable superior-performance, compact, and lower cost systems but are more challenging to characterize and, hence, to fabricate and integrate. A method was developed to characterize a wide range of optical surfaces, without requiring custom-made correctors, and to align them to each other for a high-performance optical system. A precision coordinate measuring machine, equipped with a non-contact, chromatic confocal probe, was used to measure numerous optics including large convex conics, high-sloped aspherics, several FF surfaces, and grazing-incidence x-ray optics. The resulting data were successfully reduced using custom-developed, advanced surface fitting analysis tool, to determine the optic’s alignment relative to the global and local coordinate systems, surface departure from design, and the as-built optical prescription. This information guided the modeling and the alignment of the corresponding as-built optical systems, including a flight system composed of a three-mirror anastigmat.
Surface form metrology for freeform optical components is a significant challenge that impacts the entire process chain. One of the main aims is that the metrology technique provides sufficiently low measurement uncertainty within a reasonable measurement time. We developed a non-contact, non-part-specific cascade optical coherence tomography (COCT) technique within this metrology context. C-OCT utilizes a primary and a secondary interferometer in a cascade that transforms a difficult-to-measure optical path difference (OPD), which encodes the freeform sag in this case, into a more readily measured OPD in the secondary interferometer. To enable high-speed measurements, we developed the secondary interferometer based on a rotating optical cube. A custom telecentric objective lens and a custom pupil relay enable optical scanning over the sample surface. Experimental results validate the C-OCT technique with consecutive single-point measurements showing precision of ±26 nm (~λ/24 at the He-Ne wavelength) and a preliminary flat surface measurement demonstrating 22 nm RMS (~λ/28) over a central 20 mm diameter region. Developments on the system are underway towards surface measurements on freeform optical components.
Driven by the development of freeform imaging systems, we have combined several concepts and techniques from the literature to analytically generate unobscured freeform starting point designs that are corrected through the third-order image degrading aberrations. The surfaces used in these starting point designs are described as a base off-axis conic that images stigmatically for the central field point, also known as a Cartesian reflector, with an aspheric departure “cap” (quartic with the aperture) added to the base off-axis conic to correct for the third-order image degrading aberrations. Once the aspheric caps are added to the surfaces, the system is then optimized using higher order freeform terms while leaving second-order terms frozen to preserve the focal length of the system during optimization. This technique is used to survey the three-mirror freeform imager solution space. Several systems that are the result of this technique are shown, with different numbers of internal images, internal pupil conjugates and folding geometries.
Driven by the development of freeform four-mirror solutions, we review and compare analytical methods to generate starting point designs with various states of correction, surface types, symmetry, and obscuration. The advantages and disadvantages of each are examined. We have combined several concepts and techniques from the literature to analytically generate unobscured freeform starting point designs that are corrected through the third-order image degrading aberrations. The surfaces in these starting point designs are described as base off-axis conics that image stigmatically for the central field point, also known as Cartesian reflectors, with an aspheric departure “cap” (quartic with the aperture) added to the Cartesian reflectors. Tilt angles are chosen to cancel field-asymmetric field-linear astigmatism and unobscure the system. Paraxial data from an equivalent on-axis system are used to solve a system of linear equations to determine the magnitude of the aspheric departure “caps” that are placed on top of the base Cartesian reflectors, in order to eliminate the remaining third-order image degrading aberrations. In this approach, each aspheric departure “cap” is centered about the intersection of the optical-axis-ray, also known as the base ray, with the base surface, rather than being centered about the axis of rotational invariance.
An extensive design study was conducted to find the best optimal power distribution and stop location for a 7.5x afocal zoom lens that controls the pupil walk and pupil location through zoom. This afocal zoom lens is one of the three components in a VIS-SWIR high-resolution microscope for inspection of photonic chips. The microscope consists of an afocal zoom, a nine-element objective and a tube lens and has diffraction limited performance with zero vignetting. In this case, the required change in object (sample) size and resolution is achieved by the magnification change of the afocal component. This creates strict requirements for both the entrance and exit pupil locations of the afocal zoom to couple the two sides successfully. The first phase of the design study looked at conventional four group zoom lenses with positive groups in the front and back and the stop at a fixed location outside the lens but resulted in significant pupil walk. The second phase of the design study focused on several promising unconventional four-group power distribution designs with moving stops that minimized pupil walk and had an acceptable pupil location (as determined by the objective and tube lens).
Driven by the development of freeform four-mirror solutions, we compare analytical methods to generate starting point designs with various states of correction, surface types, symmetry, and obscuration. The advantages and disadvantages of each are examined.
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