Herbert W. Friedman

Sodium-layer laser-guide-star experimental results

We describe a series of experiments to characterize the sodium-layer guide star that was formed with the high-power laser developed for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation program. An emission spot size of 3.0 m was measured, with an implied laser irradiance spot diameter of 2.0 m. The rms spot motion at the higher laser powers, with active beam-pointing control, was less than 0.5 arcsec and had little effect on the observed spot size under these conditions. We measured the resonant backscatter from the sodium layer as a function of laser power to obtain a saturation curve. With a transmitted power of 1100 W and an atmospheric transmission of 0.6, the irradiance from the guide star at the ground was 10 (photons/cm2)/ms, corresponding to a visual magnitude of 5.1. The implications for the performance of wave-front sensors with a laser guide star of this magnitude and resulting closed-loop adaptive-optics performance are discussed.

Design, layout, and early results of a feasibility experiment for sodium-layer laser-guide-star adaptive optics

We describe the design and the early results of a feasibility experiment for sodium-layer laser-guide-star adaptive optics. Copper-vapor-laser-pumped dye lasers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation program are used to create the guide star. The laser beam is projected upward from a beam director that is located ~5 m from a 0.5-m telescope and forms an irradiance spot ~2 m in diameter at the atmospheric-sodium layer (at an altitude of 95 km). The laser guide star is approximately fifth magnitude and is visible to the naked eye at the top of the Rayleigh-scattered laser beam. To date, we have made photometric measurements and open-loop wave-front-sensor measurements of the laser guide star. We give an overview of the experiment’s design and the laser systems, describe the experimental setup, show preliminary photometric and open-loop wave-front-sensor data on the guide star, and present predictions of closed-loop adaptive-optics performance based on these experimental data. The long-term goal of this effort is to develop laser guide stars and adaptive optics for use with large astronomical telescopes.

Sodium beacon laser system for the Lick Observatory

The installation and performance characteristics of a 20 W sodium beacon laser system for the 3 m Shane telescope at the Lick Observatory are presented.

Near-term feasibility demonstration of laser power beaming

A mission to recharge batteries of satellites in geostationary orbits (geosats) may be a commercially viable application which could be achieved with laser systems somewhat larger than present state-of-the-art. The lifetime of batteries on geosats is limited by repetitive discharge cycles which occur when the satellites are eclipsed by the earth during the spring and fall equinoxes. By coupling high power lasers with modern, large aperture telescopes and laser guide star adaptive optics systems, present day communications satellites could be targeted. It is important that a near term demonstration of laser power beaming be accomplished using lasers in the kilowatt range so that issues associated with high average power be addressed. The Laser Guide Star Facility at LLNL has all the necessary subsystems needed for such a near term demonstration, including high power lasers for both the power beam and guide star, beam directors and satellite tracking system.

Status of the W.M. Keck Adaptive Optics Facility

We will review the status of the natural/laser guide star adaptive optics facility that is being constructed for the Keck II telescope.

Performance of adaptive optics at Lick Observatory

A prototype adaptive optics system has been developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for use at Lick Observatory. This system is based on an ITEK 69-actuator continuous-surface deformable mirror, a Kodak fast-framing intensified CCD camera, and a Mercury VME board containing four Intel i860 processors. The system has been tested using natural reference stars on the 40-inch Nickel telescope at Lick Observatory yielding up to a factor of 10 increase in image peak intensity and a factor of 6 reduction in image full width at half maximum. These results are consistent with theoretical expectations.

Improved performance of the laser guide star adaptive optics system at Lick Observatory

Results of experiments with the laser guide star adaptive optics system on the 3-meter Shane telescope at Lick Observatory have demonstrated a factor of 4 performance improvement over previous results. Stellar images recorded at a wavelength of 2 micrometers were corrected to over 40 percent of the theoretical diffraction-limited peak intensity. For the previous two years, this sodium-layer laser guide star system has corrected stellar images at this wavelength to approximately 10 percent of the theoretical peak intensity limit. After a campaign to improve the beam quality of the laser system, and to improve calibration accuracy and stability of the adaptive optics system using new techniques for phase retrieval and phase-shifting diffraction interferometry, the system performance has been substantially increased. The next step will be to use the Lick system for astronomical science observations, and to demonstrate this level of performance with the new system being installed on the 10-meter Keck II telescope.

Design and performance of a laser guide star system for the Keck II telescope

A laser system to generate sodium-layer guide stars has been designed, built and delivered to the Keck Observatory in Hawaii. The system uses frequency doubled YAG lasers to pump liquid dye lasers and produces 20 W of average power. The design and performance result of this laser system are presented.

Measurements of the Lick Observatory Sodium Laser Guide Star

The Lick Observatory guide star laser has provided a beacon sufficient to close the adaptive optics loop and produce corrected images during runs in 1996 and 1997. This report summarizes measurements of the wavefront quality of the outgoing beam, photoreturn signal forth sodium beacon, and radiance distribution of the guide star on the sky, and follows with an analysis of the impact of the laser on adaptive optics system performance.

First significant image improvement from a sodium-layer laser guide star adaptive optics system at Lick Observatory

Atmospheric turbulence severely limits the resolution of ground-based telescopes. Adaptive optics can correct for the aberrations caused by the atmosphere, but requires a bright wavefront reference source in close angular proximity to the object being imaged. Since natural reference stars of the necessary brightness are relatively rare, methods of generating artificial reference beacons have been under active investigation for more than a decade. In this paper, we report the first significant image improvement achieved using a sodium-layer laser guide star as a wavefront reference for a high-order adaptive optics system. An artificial beacon was created by resonant scattering from atomic sodium in the mesosphere, at an altitude of 95 km. Using this laser guide star, an adaptive optics system on the 3 m Shane Telescope at Lick Observatory produced a factor of 2.4 increase in peak intensity and a factor of 2 decrease in full width at half maximum of a stellar image, compared with image motion compensation alone. The Strehl ratio when using the laser guide star as the reference was 65% of that obtained with a natural guide star, and the image full widths at half maximum were identical, 0.3 arc sec, using either the laser or the natural guide star. This sodium-layer laser guide star technique holds great promise for the worlds largest telescopes.