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This content will become publicly available on April 15, 2026

Title: Experimental and on-sky demonstration of spectrally dispersed wavefront sensing using a photonic lantern
Adaptive optics (AO) systems are critical in any application where highly resolved imaging or beam control must be performed through a dynamic medium. Such applications include astronomy and free-space optical communications, where light propagates through the atmosphere, as well as medical microscopy and vision science, where light propagates through biological tissues. Recent works have demonstrated common-path wavefront sensors (WFSs) for adaptive optics using the photonic lantern (PL), a slowly varying waveguide that can efficiently couple multi-moded light into single-mode fibers (SMFs). We use the SCExAO astrophotonics platform at the 8 m Subaru Telescope to show that spectral dispersion of lantern outputs can improve correction fidelity, culminating with an on-sky demonstration of real-time wavefront control. This is the first, to the best of our knowledge, result for either a spectrally dispersed or a photonic lantern wavefront sensor. Combined with the benefits offered by lanterns in precision spectroscopy, our results suggest the future possibility of a unified wavefront sensing spectrograph using compact photonic devices.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2109232
PAR ID:
10582716
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
Optical Society of America
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Optics Letters
Volume:
50
Issue:
8
ISSN:
0146-9592; OPLEDP
Format(s):
Medium: X Size: Article No. 2780
Size(s):
Article No. 2780
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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