Performance Measurements of a Self-Referencing Interferometer Wavefront Sensor with Optical Amplification--Briefing Charts (Preprint)

Abstract

The Self-referencing Interferometer Wavefront Sensor (SRI WFS) has been shown to outperform conventional wavefront sensors in strong scintillation environments. Recently, the Starfire Optical Range has developed a prototype SRI to evaluate its performance. This paper discusses the purposes of optically amplifying the reference beam. Specifically, it addresses regions of operation where gain improves signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) values, and thus the SRI WFS performance. Conditions are also addresses when Amplified Spontaneous Emission (ASE) from the optical amplifier degrades the overall signal, resulting in less than acceptable SNR ratios. Laboratory measurements of SRI WFS performance with an optical amplifier are presented.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 29, 2005
Accession Number
ADA473316

Entities

People

  • Laura Klein
  • Troy A. Rhoadarmer

Organizations

  • Air Force Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Sensors

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Adaptive Optics
  • Air Force
  • Air Force Facilities
  • Air Force Research Laboratories
  • Amplification
  • Amplifiers
  • Buildings And Structures
  • Department Of Defense
  • Directed Energy Weapons
  • Governments
  • Information Operations
  • Interferometers
  • Measurement
  • Military Research
  • Scintillation
  • Wavefronts

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Educational Psychology
  • Radio communications and signal processing.
  • Spectroscopy.