SciMeasure Wavefront Sensor Cameras and their Application in the Palomar Adaptive Optics System

SciMeasure, in collaboration with Emory University and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, has developed a very versatile CCD controller for use in adaptive optics, optical interferometry, and other applications requiring high-speed readout rates and/or low read noise. The overall architecture of this controller system will be discussed and its performance using both EEV CCD39 and MIT/LL CCID-19 detectors will be presented. This controller is used in the adaptive optics system, developed by JPL, for the 200′′ Hale telescope at Palomar Mountain. Early diffraction-limited science results, recently achieved by the AO system, are presented. We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of NASA through SBIR contracts NAS8–97195 and NAS8–98081.