Industry project on adaptive optics successfully completed
The EU-funded ARIES proof of concept project Innovative Adaptive Optics has recently drawn to a close. This project saw a collaboration between the QUASAR Group and the beam instrumentation company D-Beam Ltd develop strands of beam instrumentation research to proof of concept level.
The work focused on applications of a digital micro-mirror device, known as a DMD. These arrays are made up of millions of individually controllable micrometre-scale mirrors which can be manipulated on-the-fly to produce adaptive optical masks. The main applications investigated were a method of conducting DMD-based optical phase space mapping (OPSM) and DMD-based interferometry. The project also included a series of optical benchmarking measurements which will underpin all future DMD-based beam instrumentation development. These diagnostics would fill an immediate need in the accelerator community for non-invasive diagnostics.
(Left) Photograph of Digital Micromirror Device, (right) setup used at Diamond Light Source.
A demonstration system was installed at Diamond Light Source in late 2019. A series of benchmarking measurements were then conducted, measuring the high dynamic range point spread function of the imaging system with and without a DMD masking technique. Several of these measurement programmes were conducted remotely from the Cockcroft Institute.
With regards to OPSM and interferometry, both systems have been designed and benchmarked at the Cockcroft Institute, alongside other applications identified throughout the course of the project. Plans are now being progressed to conduct measurements with these systems as soon as possible following the easing of travel restrictions. These systems will then enter a commercialisation process under the guidance of D-Beam.