The design of an Adaptive Optics System must take into account at least the following main criterias. First, correction efficiencies versus the atmospherical turbulences, i.e., the Fried diameter and the turbulence power spectrum. Second, sky coverage versus star magnitudes and star classes. To answer these criteria an optimization method is defined. It uses as main parameter the residual mean phase errors of the corrected wavefronts. It is demonstrated that this parameter able us to optimize the System performances: number of modes to be controlled, sampling rates of phase measurements, and noise minimization. Finally an application is done for a 3.6 m class telescope and 2 different adaptive mirror types.

Date Published: 25 August 1993
PDF: 13 pages
Proc. SPIE 1920, Active and Adaptive Optical Components and Systems II, (25 August 1993); doi: 10.1117/12.152678

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1920:
Active and Adaptive Optical Components and Systems II
Mark A. Ealey, Editor(s)