# Performance of a novel PMMA polymer imaging bundle for field acquisition and wavefront sensing

## TL;DR

This paper characterizes a new, cost-effective PMMA polymer imaging bundle with high filling factor, suitable for short-distance astronomical applications like field acquisition and wavefront sensing, despite higher optical attenuation.

## Contribution

It introduces a novel polymer imaging bundle with significantly improved filling factor over silica alternatives, expanding potential applications in astronomy.

## Key findings

- 92% filling factor in polymer imaging bundle
- Optical attenuation of 1 dB/m for PMMA
- Suitable for short-distance astronomical instrumentation

## Abstract

Imaging bundles provide a convenient way to translate a spatially coherent image, yet conventional imaging bundles made from silica fibre optics typically remain expensive with large losses due to poor filling factors (~40%). We present the characterisation of a novel polymer imaging bundle made from poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) that is considerably cheaper and a better alternative to silica imaging bundles over short distances (~1 m; from the middle to the edge of a telescope's focal plane). The large increase in filling factor (92% for the polymer imaging bundle) outweighs the large increase in optical attenuation from using PMMA (1 dB/m) instead of silica (10^{-3} dB/m). We present and discuss current and possible future multi-object applications of the polymer imaging bundle in the context of astronomical instrumentation including: field acquisition, guiding, wavefront sensing, narrow-band imaging, aperture masking, and speckle imaging. The use of PMMA limits its use in low light applications (e.g. imaging of galaxies), however it is possible to fabricate polymer imaging bundles from a range of polymers that are better suited to the desired science.