Dr. Michael Gerber Profile

Dr. Michael Gerber

at Univ Bern

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Author

Publications (7)

Proceedings Article | 25 September 2017

Twenty months development for the Cassis telescope: re-use building blocks and concurrent engineering

D. Vernani, A. Casciello, N. DeRoux, L. Francou, M. Johnson, E. Rugi, T. Weigel, M. Gerber, N. Thomas, R. Ziethe, G. Cremonese

Proc. SPIE. 10562, International Conference on Space Optics — ICSO 2016

KEYWORDS: Optical components, Telescopes, Mirrors, Optical design, Sensors, Silver, Manufacturing, Space telescopes, Astronomical imaging, Optical instrument design

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Proceedings Article | 25 September 2017

First light of Cassis: the stereo surface imaging system onboard the exomars TGO

L. Gambicorti, D. Piazza, A. Pommerol, V. Roloff, M. Gerber, R. Ziethe, M. El-Maarry, T. Weigel, M. Johnson, D. Vernani, E. Pelo, V. Da Deppo, G. Cremonese, I. Ficai Veltroni, N. Thomas

Proc. SPIE. 10562, International Conference on Space Optics — ICSO 2016

KEYWORDS: Staring arrays, Point spread functions, Telescopes, Optical filters, Mirrors, Imaging systems, Sensors, Space telescopes, Mars, Astronomical imaging

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The Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS) camera was launched on 14 March 2016 onboard the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and it is currently in cruise to Mars.

The CaSSIS high resolution optical system is based on a TMA telescope (Three Mirrors Anastigmatic configuration) with a 4th powered folding mirror compacting the CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer) structure. The camera EPD (Entrance Pupil Diameter) is 135 mm and the focal length is 880 mm, giving an F# 6.5 system; the wavelength range covered by the instrument is 400-1100 nm. The optical system is designed to have distortion of less than 2%, and a worst case Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) of 0.3 at the detector Nyquist spatial frequency (i.e. 50 lp/mm).

The Focal Plane Assembly (FPA), including the detector, is a spare from the Simbio-Sys instrument of the Italian Space Agency (ASI). Simbio-Sys will fly on ESA’s BepiColombo mission to Mercury in 2018. The detector, developed by Raytheon Vision Systems, is a 2k×2k hybrid Si-PIN array with 10 μm-pixel pitch. The detector allows snap shot operation at a read-out rate of 5 Mpx/s with 14-bit resolution. CaSSIS will operate in a push-frame mode with a Filter Strip Assembly (FSA), placed directly above the detector sensitive area, selecting 4 colour bands. The scale at a slant angle of 4.6 m/px from the nominal orbit is foreseen to produce frames of 9.4 km × 6.3 km on the Martian surface, and covering a Field of View (FoV) of 1.33° cross track × 0.88° along track.

The University of Bern was in charge of the full instrument integration as well as the characterisation of the focal plane of CaSSIS. The paper will present an overview of CaSSIS and the optical performance of the telescope and the FPA. The preliminary results of the on-ground calibration campaign and the first light obtained during the commissioning and pointing campaign (April 2016) will be described in detail. The instrument is acquiring images with an average Point Spread Function at Full-Width-Half-Maximum (PSF FWHM) of < 1.5 px, as expected.

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Proceedings Article | 1 August 2016 Paper

Thin-film optical pass band filters based on new photo-lithographic process for CaSSIS FPA detector on Exomars TGO mission: development, integration, and test

L. Gambicorti, D. Piazza, M. Gerber, A. Pommerol, V. Roloff, R. Ziethe, C. Zimmermann, V. Da Deppo, G. Cremonese, I. Ficai Veltroni, M. Marinai, E. Di Carmine, T. Bauer, P. Moebius, N. Thomas

Proc. SPIE. 9912, Advances in Optical and Mechanical Technologies for Telescopes and Instrumentation II

KEYWORDS: Staring arrays, Thin films, Optical filters, Silica, Sensors, Optical coatings, Chromium, Image filtering, Integrated optics, Bandpass filters

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Proceedings Article | 29 July 2016 Paper

The CaSSIS imaging system: optical performance overview

L. Gambicorti, D. Piazza, A. Pommerol, V. Roloff, M. Gerber, R. Ziethe, M. R. El-Maarry, T. Weigel, M. Johnson, D. Vernani, E. Pelo, V. Da Deppo, G. Cremonese, I. Ficai Veltroni, N. Thomas

Proc. SPIE. 9904, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave

KEYWORDS: Near infrared, Point spread functions, Telescopes, Optical filters, Mirrors, Imaging systems, Sensors, Space telescopes, Image filtering, Mars

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Proceedings Article | 29 July 2016 Paper

Alignment procedure for detector integration and characterization of the CaSSIS instrument onboard the TGO mission

Antonio De Sio, Vania Da Deppo, Lisa Gambicorti, Michael Gerber, Ruth Ziethe, Gabriele Cremonese, Nicolas Thomas

Proc. SPIE. 9904, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave

KEYWORDS: Optical components, Telescopes, Mirrors, Sensors, Remote sensing, Space telescopes, Collimation, Optical alignment, Off axis mirrors, Alignment procedures

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Proceedings Article | 14 November 2003 Paper

Generation of super-Gaussian modes in Nd:YAG lasers with graded-phase mirrors

Michael Gerber, Thomas Graf

Proc. SPIE. 5147, ALT'02 International Conference on Advanced Laser Technologies

KEYWORDS: Mirrors, Continuous wave operation, Resonators, Manufacturing, Laser development, Nd:YAG lasers, Solids, Beam shaping, Spherical lenses, Dielectric mirrors

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Proceedings Article | 6 June 2002 Paper

Intracavity beam shaping of a Nd:YAG laser

Michael Gerber, Alexis Kudryashov, Thomas Graf

Proc. SPIE. 4629, Laser Resonators and Beam Control V

KEYWORDS: Actuators, Mirrors, Continuous wave operation, Resonators, Electrodes, Manufacturing, Nd:YAG lasers, Solids, Beam shaping, Spherical lenses

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