Performance Evaluation of Optical-Beam Stabilization Platforms With Different Supports Used in Large-Aperture Electro-Optical System

Abstract

Optical-beam stabilization platform (OBSP) provides high-precision inertial reference for measurement of full link optical-beam jitter in large-aperture electro-optical systems. To ensure that its optical-beam stability meets system alignment needs, performance evaluation of OBSP is necessary. Considering two OBSPs with flexible and rigid support, their optical-beam stability performance and effect on image quality are evaluated and compared via theoretical and experimental means. The results reveal that under same sensor and control algorithm conditions, the two OBSPs perform well on dynamic-frequency characteristics and two-axis motion decoupling, they can achieve dynamic optical-beam stabilization accuracy of $7.934\, \mu rad$ and $5.762 \,\mu rad$ under 0.5–$100Hz$ wide-band excitation, respectively. Moreover, optical systems equipped with OBSPs demonstrate better imaging performance (MTF value of 21% at 50 lp/mm with stable residuals of less than $7 \,\mu rad$). The findings of this study provide a ready reference for the design of meter level large-aperture electro-optical systems for applications in laser communication, aerial imaging, etc.

Keywords

• Image quality
• optical-beam jitter
• optical-beam stabilization platform
• optical-beam stability performance