Research on Computer-aided alignment for an afocal off-axis optical system

Laser communication terminal is the key point of the satellite laser communication system. In order to improve the pointing and tracking efficiency, an afocal off-axis optical system was designed for laser communication Terminal. So the precise alignment an afocal mirror telescope of all-reflective off-axis optical system is great significance. In this paper, computer-aided alignment methods utilizing Zernike polynomial coefficients have been developed for an afocal mirror telescope. The misalignment state is simulated in CODEV and computer-aided alignment software. The relation of component deflexion and the place of exit pupil have been simulated by computer model reverse optimization. At a wavelength of 632.8nm, the main characteristics are a WFE of <= 0.035nm. These results show that it can meet the precision requirement and accelerate the convergence of misalignment variables. Ultimately, the image quality and precision of exit pupil was effective operated according to the request of satellite laser communication system.