tel: 505 846 2248
fax: 505 853 2498
E-mail:
sergio.restaino@kirtland.af.mil
Area of Expertise
Adaptive optics, optical interferometry
Biography
Dr. Restaino's research interest is in the field of high angular resolution imaging through the use of adaptive optics and optical interferometry. His main research over the past decade has been focused on novel wavefront sensor and new technologies, like liquid crystals and Micro-Electro-Machined mirrors, for adaptive optics. He is the Principle Investigator for a Naval Research Laboratory program to develop light weight telescopes equipped with adaptive optics for use at the Naval Prototype Optical Interferometer (NPOI) in Flagstaff, Arizona. Dr. Restaino is currently adjunct professor at three Universities where he lectures on various optics and imaging topics. He also serves as advisor for several students for their master and Ph.D. thesis.Lecture Title(s)
Adaptive Optics: The Untwinkling of the Stars
The turbulence in the Earth's atmosphere causes images of distant objects seen through a telescope to be highly corrupted. Many techniques have been developed to alleviate such effects. Among such techniques a class of technologies that removes the deleterious effects in real time has been extremely successful and they are known under the generic name of adaptive optics or AO in short. In this lecture I will illustrate the optical principle underlying AO and some of the more modern techniques that have been developed. I will also describe the use of AO in various fields ranging from ophthalmology to high power lasers for industrial applications.
Image Formation and Analysis
In this lecture Dr. Restaino will describe the basic tenants of image formation and the effect that aberrations have on image quality. Ways to analyze and eliminate these deleterious effects will be described. A series of techniques, both real time and post-fact will be discussed.
