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Updated: Aug 10, 2026

Bringing the Visible Universe into Focus with Robo-AO
Published on: February 12, 2013
Automatic alignment of a Kirkpatrick-Baez active optic by use of a soft-x-ray Hartmann wavefront sensor
Pascal Mercère1, Mourad Idir, Thierry Moreno
1Synchrotron SOLEIL, L'Orme des Merisiers-Saint-Aubin, Gif sur Yvette, France.
Abstract:
We present what we believe to be the first automatic alignment of a synchrotron beamline by the Hartmann technique. Experiments were performed, in the soft-x-ray range (E=3 keV, lambda=0.414 nm), by using a four-actuator Kirkpatrick-Baez (KB) active optic. A system imaging the KB focal spot and a soft-x-ray Hartmann wavefront sensor were used alternatively to control the KB optic. The beam corrected with the help of the imaging system was used to calibrate the wavefront sensor. With both closed loops, we focused the beam into a 6.8 microm x 9 microm FWHM focal spot.

