Large Range of a High-Precision, Independent, Sub-Mirror Three-Dimensional Co-Phase Error Sensing and Correction Method via a Mask and Population Algorithm

The emergence of segmented mirrors is expected to solve the design, processing, manufacturing, testing, and launching of space telescopes of large apertures. However, with the increase in the number of sub-mirrors, the sensing and correction of co-phase errors in segmented mirrors will be very difficult. In this paper, an independent three-dimensional method for sub-mirror co-phase error sensing and correction method is proposed. The method is based on a wide spectral modulation transfer function (MTF), mask, population optimization algorithm, and online model-free correction. In this method, the sensing and correction process of each sub-mirror co-phase error is independent of each other, so the increase in the number of sub-mirrors will not increase the difficulty of the method. This method can sense and correct the co-phase errors of three dimensions of the sub-mirror, including piston, tip, and tilt, even without modeling the optical system, and has a wide detection range and high precision. And the efficiency is high because the sub-mirrors can be corrected simultaneously in parallel. Simulation results show that the proposed method can effectively sense and correct the co-phase errors of the sub-mirrors in the range [−50λ, 50λ] in three dimensions with high precision. The average RMSE value in 100 experiments of the true co-phase error values and the experimental co-phase error values of one of the six sub-mirrors is 2.358 × 10−7λ.