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arXiv · 2510.03058

Focal-plane wavefront sensing with moderately broadband light using a short multi-mode fiber

Auxiliadora Padrón-Brito·Natalia Arteaga-Marrero·Ian Cunnyngham·Jeff Kuhn
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Abstract

We propose a focal-plane wavefront sensor (FPWFS) based on a short multimode fiber (MMF) capable of operating under moderately broadband illumination. By coupling the aberrated focal-plane field into an MMF of length <1 cm, we preserve modal interference over a 10 nm bandwidth at near-infrared wavelengths. The resulting output intensity pattern encodes pupil phase information, enabling wavefront recovery via a neural network. Our approach resolves the inherent sign ambiguity of even pupil-phase aberrations and operates on millisecond timescales using readily available computing hardware, suitable for real-time adaptive optics. Unlike traditional pupil-plane sensors, the proposed FPWFS shares the optical path with the science beam, eliminating non-common-path aberrations by enabling simultaneous wavefront and focal-plane intensity retrieval. Its simplicity, compactness, sensitivity, and low cost make it an attractive candidate for next-generation astronomical instruments.

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Auxiliadora Padrón-Brito, Natalia Arteaga-Marrero, Ian Cunnyngham, Jeff Kuhn. 2025-10-03. Focal-plane wavefront sensing with moderately broadband light using a short multi-mode fiber. https://doi.org/10.1364/oe.580986

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