A new hybrid algorithm for co-phasing segmented active optical system based on phase diversity

Abstract In order to reach its diffraction limited performance, the co-phase errors of segmented mirror synthetic aperture optics (SAO) systems must be accurately measured and corrected. A new hybrid algorithm based on phase diversity is proposed for co-phasing the segmented mirrors. It utilizes an improved adaptive genetic algorithm to determine the global initial aberration coefficients, and then uses an iterative linear correction algorithm to obtain the linear estimator of coefficients under small residual phase after initial alignment of the system. The numerical simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method is highly sensitive and noise tolerant. It can fulfill the requirements for the phasing of segmented mirror telescopes and retrieving the unknown object for the system.