Gemini 8-M Telescopes Project, Aura, 950 N. Cherry Ave, PO Box 26732, Tucson, Arizona 85719

A -- R&D FOR LASER SYSTEM FOR ADAPTIVE OPTICS LASER GUIDE STAR SOL N200026 POC Andrew Flach, 520-318-8537 WEB: General information about the Gemini Observatory, http://www.gemini.edu. E-MAIL: Email Gemini Contracts Manager, aflach@gemini.edu. The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) is seeking qualified vendors to perform research and development programs in the field of key components for Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics (LGS AO: see below) laser technologies. The research and development programs shall develop and demonstrate the key components which will be necessary for building laser systems that operate at the power level and beam quality required by LGS AO operation at an 8 meter optical/infrared telescope. AURA views these R&D activities as the first step towards a more complete technical demonstration of LGS AO laser technology(ies). AURA expects to eventually procure multiple fully-engineered laser systems to be used as part of the Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics Systems for the Gemini North and Gemini South Observatory under a separate procurement effort. AURA hopes to fund more than one R&D program in order to foster competing technologies. The proposed R&D program(s) shall be in the $ 50,000 to $ 300,000 range, with a duration of up to 9 months to a year. LGS AO: Adaptive optics systems remove distortions caused by atmospheric turbulence by making corrections to the incoming wavefront using one or multiple bright points of light in the area being observed as references. These reference points can be bright stars, or artificial light sources created by shooting one or multiple lasers at the sky to excite mesospheric sodium atoms located 90 kilometers above the ground. LGS AO laser systems need to be precisely tuned to the sodium D2 transition line (near 589 nm) and are unusually powerful for lasers at this wavelength. The output power requirement of a sodium LGS AO laser system depends on the laser temporal and spectral format, which determines the laser's efficiency at exciting mesospheric sodium atoms. This power requirement range varies between 7 to 24 W depending on the laser characteristics. The LGS AO laser beam quality must be better than 1.5 times diffraction-limited. Note that theperformance, functional and operational requirements for the fully-engineered sodium LGS AO laser system are identical to the ones which were described in the RFP No. N991297 issued on October 4, 1999. The Gemini Observatory is an international collaboration to build and operate two 8 meter telescopes, one located on Mauna Kea in Hawaii, the other to be located on Cerro Pachon in Chile. The Gemini partners include the USA, United Kingdom, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Australia. The Gemini project is operated by AURA under contract to the National Science Foundation. Firms that are interested in receiving the RFP for this R&D effort should fax a letter of interest by no later than 24 January, 2000, to 520-318-8590. Letters should reference RFP No. N200026, and be addressed to the Gemini Contracts Manager. Posted 01/14/00 (W-SN416194). (0014)

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