Wittrock, Ulrich
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- deformable mirrors (2)
- laser machining (2)
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- Pr3+ luminescence (1)
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Faculty
We have developed and manufactured a unimorph deformable mirror for space telescopes based on piezoelectric actuation. The mirror features 44 actuators, has an aperture of 50 mm, and is designed to reproduce low-order Zernike modes with a stroke of several tens of µm. We assessed the space compliance by operating the mirror in thermal vacuum, and exposing it to random and sinusoidal vibrations, as well as to ionizing irradiation. Additionally, the operational life time and the laser power handling capability were tested. The mirror was successfully operated in thermal vacuum at 100 K. We report on the conducted tests and the methods used to evaluate the mirror´s performance, and discuss the compliance with the demanded requirements
We present a novel pump concept that should lead to single-frequency operation of thin-disk lasers without the need for etalons or other spectral filters. The single-frequency operation is due to matching the standing wave pattern of partially coherent pump light to the standing wave pattern of the laser light inside the disk. The output power and the optical efficiency of our novel pump concept are compared with conventional pumping. The feasibility of our pump concept was shown in previous experiments.
With a view to the next generation of large space telescopes, we investigate guide-star-free, image-based aberration correction using a unimorph deformable mirror in a plane conjugate to the primary mirror. We designed and built a high-resolution imaging testbed to evaluate control algorithms. In this paper we use an algorithm based on the heuristic hill climbing technique and compare the correction in three different domains, namely the voltage domain, the domain of the Zernike modes, and the domain of the singular modes of the deformable mirror. Through our systematic experimental study, we found that successive control in two domains effectively counteracts uncompensated hysteresis of the deformable mirror.
Image-sharpness metrics can be used to optimize optical systems and to control wavefront sensorless adaptive optics systems. We show that for an aberrated system, the numerical value of an image-sharpness metric can be improved by adding specific aberrations. The optimum amplitudes of the additional aberrations depend on the power spectral density of the spatial frequencies of the object.
We recently presented a novel unimorph deformable mirror which allows for dynamic focus shift with an actuation rate of 2 kHz. Such mirrors suffer from hysteresis and creep. Therefore, they have to be operated in closed-loop. For this purpose, we developed a defocus sensor based on an astigmatic detection system. In this paper, we present the sensor design and discuss its performance.
On-the-fly remote laser processing plays an increasingly important role in modern fabrication techniques. These processes require guiding of the focus of a laser beam along the contours of the workpiece in three dimensions.
State-of-the-art galvanometer scanners already provide highly dynamic and precise transverse x−y beam steering. However, longitudinal focus shifting (“z-shifting”) relying on conventional optics is restricted to a bandwidth of a few hundred Hz. We have developed and manufactured a fast piezo-based z-shifting mirror with diffraction-limited surface fidelity providing a focus shift of 1z> 60 mm with an actuation rate of 2 kHz.
This work deals with the spectroscopic properties of praseodymium doped single crystalline lutetium aluminum garnet (LuAG:Pr3+). A special focus was set on temperature- and time-dependent spectroscopy. Beyond the well-known down-conversion luminescence of LuAG:Pr3+, also UV-A/B up-conversion luminescence under excitation with a 488 nm laser was thoroughly investigated. Furthermore, the results of the spectroscopic investigations on the single crystalline material were supplemented and compared with measurements on a microscale powder sample.
In addition, to the spectroscopic investigations, mechanistic considerations are presented to obtain a closer look at the up-conversion process in LuAG:Pr3+. We promote the thesis of a temperature-dependent energy transfer up-conversion mechanism.
Cross-saturation of the gain media in intra-cavity pumped lasers leads to complex dynamics of the laser power. We present experimental results and a detailed theoretical analysis of this nonlinear dynamics for an intra-cavity pumped Yb:YAG thin-disk laser in the framework of a rate-equation model. The gain medium of this laser is residing in the resonator of a conventional, diode-pumped Yb:YAG thin-disk laser. Continuous-wave operation, periodic pulse trains, and chaotic fluctuations of the optical power of both lasers were observed. The dynamics is not driven by external perturbations but arises naturally in this laser system. Further examination revealed that these modes of operation can be controlled by the resonator length of the diode-pumped laser but that the system can also show hysteresis and multi-stability.