Athermal design of the optical tube assemblies for the ESO VLT Four Laser Guidestar Facility

R. Henselmans; D. Nijkerk; M. Lemmen; N. Rijnveld; F. Kamphues

doi:10.1117/12.893845

12 September 2011 Athermal design of the optical tube assemblies for the ESO VLT Four Laser Guidestar Facility

R. Henselmans, D. Nijkerk, M. Lemmen, N. Rijnveld, F. Kamphues

Proceedings Volume 8149, Astronomical Adaptive Optics Systems and Applications IV; 814905 (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.893845
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2011, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

TNO is developing the Optical Tube Asssemblies (OTAs) for the ESO VLT Four Laser Guide Star Facility. The OTAs are Galilean 20x beam expanders, expanding a Ø15 mm input beam to a steerable Ø300 mm output beam with a wavefront quality requirement of 50 nm rms. The allowed defocus under the influence of the changing environmental air temperature (0-15°C, -0.7°C/hr gradient) is only 0.2 waves. The thermal behaviour of the system has been analyzed by combining optical, lumped mass and FE analyses. A design that is passively athermalized over a large temperature range as well as under the influence of thermal gradients has been developed. Extensive thermal testing has shown the system performs as required. This paper describes the design and test results.

Citation Download Citation

R. Henselmans, D. Nijkerk, M. Lemmen, N. Rijnveld, and F. Kamphues "Athermal design of the optical tube assemblies for the ESO VLT Four Laser Guidestar Facility", Proc. SPIE 8149, Astronomical Adaptive Optics Systems and Applications IV, 814905 (12 September 2011); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.893845

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available