Pierre Desaulniers

SPIRou @ CFHT: spectrograph optical design

SPIRou is a near-infrared, echelle spectropolarimeter/velocimeter under design for the 3.6m Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The unique scientific capabilities and technical design features are described in the accompanying (eight) papers at this conference. In this paper we focus on the lens design of the optical spectrograph. The SPIROU spectrograph is a near infrared fiber fed double pass cross dispersed spectrograph. The cryogenic spectrograph is connected with the Cassegrain unit by the two science fibers. It is also fed by the fiber coming from the calibration box and RV reference module of the instrument. It includes 2 off-axis parabolas (1 in double pass), an echelle grating, a train of cross disperser prisms (in double pass), a flat folding mirror, a refractive camera and a detector. This paper describes the optical design of the spectrograph unit and estimates the performances. In particular, the echelle grating options are discussed as the goal grating is not available from the market.

Cross-diffractive optical elements for wide angle geometric camera calibration

Diffractive optical elements (DOEs) can generate multiple two-dimensional (2D) diffraction grids that can be used to calibrate cameras for photogrammetry. However, several factors limit the accuracy and the functionality of this technique. One of the most important is the DOE fabrication itself. A large DOE with wide 2D fan-out grids is very difficult and costly to develop. Consequently, the calibration is limited to small aperture cameras and/or limited angles. To overcome these problems, we present a low cost solution. We propose to use two large, commercially available, crossed phase DOEs that generate 15×15 equally spaced dots. As the DOEs are not perfect, the unwanted secondary diffractive orders are used as calibration targets to expand the calibration field of view. We show that the use of the primary and secondary diffractive orders provides a valuable calibration tool for wide angle aerial cameras.

Cryogenic mechanical design: SPIROU spectrograph

This paper presents an overview of the PDR level mechanical and opto-mechanical design of the cryogenic spectrograph unit of the nIR spectropolarimeter (SPIROU) proposed as a new-generation instrument for CFHT. The design is driven by the need for high thermo-mechanical stability in terms of the radial velocity (RV) of 1 m/s during one night, with the requirement for thermal stability set at 1 mK/24 hours. This paper describes stress-free design of the cryogenic optical mounts, mechanical design of the custom-build cryostat, mechanical design of the optical bench, and thermal design for 1 mK thermal stability. The thermal budget was calculated using lumped-mass model thermal analysis, implemented in Modelica multi-domain modeling language. Discussion of thermal control options to achieve 1 mK thermal stability is included.

Dedicated testing setup for panoramic lenses

Panoramic imaging is of growing importance in many applications around the world spurred by the development of digital imaging. Panoramic lens characteristics are unique and their careful characterization can be a challenge. For example, the price to pay for a large field of view in this type of lens is high distortion in the image. For vision applications like security or inspection, a precise knowledge of the distortion introduced by panoramic lenses is essential to produce natural unwrapped views to the operator. Of special concern is the image quality which must be uniformed over the entire field of view because all directions are equally important. In addition, two hemispheric images can also be stitched together to create a complete spherical image. For these reasons, we have developed a dedicated setup to study the distortion and the image quality produced by panoramic lenses. The test setup is made of a 75-cm radius cylindrical structure with targets placed on it. Using referenced equally-spaced targets, we obtained the radial image mapping curves for various azymuthal angles, allowing us to calculate the full-field resolution map. Also, transition targets were used to find field-dependent spatial frequency where the MTF is 50%. We tested four different panoramic lenses, two panomorph lenses and two fisheyes. For each lens, we discussed the experimental resolution and MTF curves and compared some of those results to theoretical design data.

Gemini high-resolution optical spectrograph conceptual design

A multiplexed moderate resolution (R = 34,000) and a single object high resolution (R = 90,000) spectroscopic facility for the entire 340 - 950nm wavelength region has been designed for Gemini. The result is a high throughput, versatile instrument that will enable precision spectroscopy for decades to come. The extended wavelength coverage for these relatively high spectral resolutions is achieved by use of an Echelle grating with VPH cross-dispersers and for the R = 90,000 mode utilization of an image slicer. The design incorporates a fast, efficient, reliable system for acquiring targets over the7 arcmin field of Gemini. This paper outlines the science case development and requirements flow-down process that leads to the configuration of the HIA instrument and describes the overall GHOS conceptual design. In addition, this paper discusses design trades examined during the conceptual design study instrument group of the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics has been commissioned by the Gemini Observatory as one of the three competing organizations to conduct a conceptual design study for a new Gemini High-Resolution Optical Spectrograph (GHOS). This paper outlines the science case development and requirements flow-down process that leads to the configuration of the HIA instrument and describes the overall GHOS conceptual design. In addition, this paper discusses design trades examined during the conceptual design study.

Performance evaluation of panoramic electro-optic imagers using the TOD method

The triangle orientation discrimination (TOD) method is an emerging technique for the evaluation of electro-optical (EO) systems. In this method, the test pattern is a non-periodic equilateral triangle in one of four different orientations (apex up, down, left, or right), and the measurement procedure is a robust four-alternative forced-choice psychophysical process. This leads to a time-consuming task. Consequently, software models have been developed to replace the required human observers. These models base their decision on the orientation of the target using correlation between observed data and the set of four differently oriented targets. This study investigates for the first time how this method can be applied to highly distorted OE systems like hemispheric imagers. These types of systems have inherent large distortion, but the distortion should not be considered as an aberration but rather the result of the projection of a hemispheric field (3D) on a 2D sensor. The distortion deforms the image of the targets and image processing is usually performed to remove distortion and straighten the field of view. We present a comparison in accuracy and computational burden for the evaluation of EO system performance between cases where tested images are pre-processed and correlated to unchanged triangle targets and where untouched (distorted) images are correlated with position-wise distorted targets. This is a first evaluation of the application of the TOD with the goal of obtaining an image quality criterion for panoramic imagers.

Gemini high-resolution optical spectrograph conceptual optical design

The instrument group of the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics has been commissioned by the Gemini Observatory as one of the three competing organizations to conduct a conceptual design study for a new Gemini High-Resolution Optical Spectrograph (GHOS). This paper outlines the main features of the optical design, including the Cassegrain-mounted science input unit, the bench-mounted spectrograph and the fibre relay system. The predicted imaging performance and efficiency are presented with the design trade offs explored in the study.

Optical and electrical variations in high-power white light-emitting diodes stressed with typical operation conditions

We present an analysis of the degradation of the optical and electrical properties of high-power light-emitting diodes (LEDs) used for general lighting applications. The study was conducted by submitting the LEDs to different current and temperature stress conditions. Those conditions are based on typical operating conditions that can be encountered on LED-based luminaires for general lighting. LEDs were stressed under four different operating currents, and two of those were stressed at two junction temperatures, controlled with a thermoelectric cooler. Results described in this paper indicate that the lumen droop due to an increase in nonradiative recombination is correlated with the stress conditions in accordance with the literature. However, the LED samples showed a forward-voltage droop which seems to be independent of the stresses. For all the stress conditions, the LED forward voltages decreased by about 1% after 1000 h of stress time. A link between forward voltage and lumen output was made through LED efficiency. Also, the yellow peak/blue peak ratio was measured and showed an increase after 1000 to 1200 h. This is attributed to LED chip degradation. These observations suggest the use of both current and voltage control to optimize the use of LEDs in general lighting.

Developments in modern panoramic lenses: lens design, controlled distortion, and characterization

Almost every aspect concerning the design of modern panoramic lenses brings new challenges to optical designers. Examples of these include ray tracing programs having problems finding the entrance pupil which is moving through the field of view, production particularities due to the shape of the front lenses, ways of tolerancing these systems having strong distortion, particular setups required for their characterization and calibration, and algorithms to properly analyze and make use of the obtained images. To better understand these modern panoramic lenses, the Optical Engineering Research Laboratory at Laval University has been doing research on them during the past few years. The most significant results are being presented in this paper. Controlled distortion, as in commercial panomorph lenses (Immervision), is used to image a specific part of the object with more pixels than in a normal fisheye lens. This idea is even more useful when a zone of interest vary in time with dynamically adjustable distortion as in a panoramic locally magnifying imager. Another axis of research is the use of modern computational techniques such as wavefront coding in wide-angle imaging systems. The particularities of such techniques when the field of view is large or with anamorphic imagers are considered. Presentation of a novel circular test bench in our laboratories, required to calibrate and check the image quality of wide-angle imaging system, follows. Another presented setup uses a laser and diffractive optical elements to compactly calibrate wide-angle lenses. Then, a discussion of the uniqueness in tolerancing these lenses, especially the front elements due to the large ratio between lens diameter and entrance pupil diameter, is included. Lastly, particularities with polarization imaging and experiments of triangle orientation detection tests before and after unwrapping the distorted images are briefly discussed.

Sea-ice detection for autonomous underwater vehicles and oceanographic lagrangian platforms by continuous-wave laser polarimetry

The use of Lagrangian platforms and of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) in oceanography has increased rapidly over the last decade along with the development of improved biological and chemical sensors. These vehicles provide new spatial and temporal scales for observational studies of the ocean. They offer a broad range of deployment and recovery capabilities that reduce the need of large research vessels. This is especially true for ice-covered Arctic ocean where surface navigation is only possible during the summer period. Moreover, safe underwater navigation in icy waters requires the capability of detecting sea ice on the surface (ice sheets). AUVs navigating in such conditions risk collisions, RF communication shadowing, and being trapped by ice keels. In this paper, an underwater sea-ice detection apparatus is described. The source is a polarized continuous wave (CW) diode-pumped solid-state laser (DPSS) module operating at 532 nm. The detector is composed of a polarizing beam splitter, which separates light of S and P polarization states and two photodetectors, one for each polarized component. Since sea-ice is a strong depolarizer, the ratio P/S is an indicator of the presence or absence of sea-ice. The system is capable of detecting sea-ice at a distance of 12m. This apparatus is designed to be used by free drifting profiling floats (e.g., Argo floats), buoyancy driven vehicles (e.g., sea gliders) and propeller-driven robots (e.g., Hugin class AUV).