Contact

Roberto López López
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
c/Vía Láctea s/n
38205 – La Laguna / Sta. Cruz de Tenerife

922 605 306
630 487 059
roberto.lopez.lopez@iac.es


Profession / Affiliation

Instrumentalist, Optical Engineer
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias


Degree / Education

PhD in Applied Physics
Master in Applied Physics:
   Specialty Environment
Licensed in Science:
   Specialty Astrophysics


Projects & Instruments

OFTACROM*
ISOPHOT-S**
CORRELADOR SOLAR
SENSOR DE FRENTE DE ONDA
CAIN
LIRIS
OSIRIS-GTC
GREGOR
FastCam***
EMIR-GTC
Wide-FC
ESTranGIS
AOLI
GTCAO
IACsat
FastPlan
GREST


Keywords

Optical Design
Instrumentation
AIV
Radiometry
Adaptive Optics
Lucky Imaging
Integral Field Unit (IFU)
Slicer
Astrophysics


Courses

Code-V Introduction - ORA, 1994
Code-V Advanced - ORA, 1996
Introduction to Radiometry - IAC-IFA, 1997
Interferometry and Optical Testing – Zygo, 2000
Zemax - Custom Specialized I &II, 2016-2017

Computing

UNIX-LINUX, WINDOWS, DOS
FORTRAN, C, Pascal
MATLAB/OCTAVE, Python, Julia
IRAF,
 Code-V, ZEMAX, OSLO
FreeCAD, LibreCAD
AutoCAD, SketchUp,
LaTeX, LibreOffice


Techcniques

Astrophysics
Optics
Instrumentation
AIV
Infrared
Phtometry/ Radiometry
Spectroscopy
Optical Metrology
Prototyping
Adaptive Optics
Lucky Imaging





I love this game

I love this game


Roberto López López







[In] Profile (of)
Instrumentalist

Astrophysicist,
Optical Engineer



Instrumentation,...

The instruments at the telescopes are a necessary resource to study the light coming from the stars and to do Astrophysics. "Astrophysics is theoretical and experimental but it will need instruments, and instrumentalists are a scarce and valuable resource" (Prof. Carlos Sánchez Magro, 1983). Optics is the first step to define an instrument, we need to design it and then manufacture and integrate it, doing a verification of its functionality. The amazing point about optical instrumentation is the development and prototyping from lab and going through the alignment, integration and verification to the commissioning at telescope. This is what I do in the labs. Or in middle of Australian desert for the following of transit of Venus in 2012 (photo).



Bakground

I belong to a generation deceived by the disappointment of the conquest of space. That boy who fancied himself as a scientist working in a settlement on the Moon and with the possibility to go to Mars... The time has shown that economic interests prevail over the interest of social evolution and progress, and improvement knowledge or, at least, the desire to learn. The triumph of mediocrity and lack of interest in self-realization and collaboration for a future together. The frustration of reality has turned me into a perennial outraged.


After finishing the High School I went to Santiago de Compostela to study Physic Sciences. Three years of learning, friendship and fulfillment. After the scare of the 23-F I came to La Laguna to study the Astrophysics's specialty, dependent of incipient Institituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) that had arisen within the department that brought together the pioneers of the telescopes of Teide and Roque de los Muchachos observatories.

Led by Chiqui Galán and Carlos Sánchez I derived my enthusiasm and dreams of observational astronomy and research towards the instrumentation. Perhaps my skills with machines, perhaps by the desire for learning to control instruments, I started with works of test, verification and calibration, as well as adapting and improving the capabilities of someone, no longer in use, devices (Razdow Solar Telescope for observation in Hα line, Spectral Comparator,...) or, the implementation of any new one (Perkin Elmer microdensitometer).

Even as a student, between specialization courses I stayed at the Institute of Optics «Daza de Valdés» in Madrid for spectrophotometric calibration of a photodiode with a photopic filter under the supervision of Prof. Antonio Corrons and Dr. Alicia Pons.

However, my first job as an instrumentalist was not an instrument for astrophysics, but clinical. For Prof. González de la Rosa, of the Department of Ophthalmology in Universitary Hospital of La Laguna (ULL), I developed the OFTACROM a «Spectro-Fluore-Photometer» for Clinical Analysis by measuring concentrations of Fluoresceine filtered through the blood-retinal barrier of eye. While the development of this instrument I learned techniques of photometric and radiometric measurements in the laboratory and in telescopes as in visible as infrared so as optical design. Even developing an own program for ray tracing that helped me to understand the techniques and problems of optical design. I also was able to translate a more elaborate program, developed in ALGOL by Francisco Cobos (UNAM), to FORTRAN-77. During that time I also participated in the study and design of a new technology 3-m telescope, behaving semi-active optical techniques.

The draft project, optomechanical design, development, installation and calibration of OFTACROM was the contents of my PhD project what was led by Prof. Carlos Sanchez Magro. The thesis at the end failed to defend due to the untimely death of my supervisor and it was not possible to find any other department doctor who would assumed the direction of the thesis because it was too instrumental and outside its scope. In any case the project was completed and allowed the achievement of another doctoral thesis in Ophthalmology what won a mention of national award for this doctorate in medicine by technology presence and development of analysis technique for early detection of retinal problems and for possible diabetes.

During those four years I was lecturer responsible for the practices of the 4th year in the subject of Astronomical Optics, besides the issue of 5th year Optical Design and Instrumentation and Telescopes topics in the subject Astronomical Instrumentation and Techniques. At same time, I had to take charge of the acquisition and commissioning of a high vacuum chamber for deposition of thin films to make filters, antireflective layers and mirrors of small size. They were awarded funding for a machine of this type for a project of Prof. Sanchez after its death. Simultaneously I also was in charge of the implementation of the optical laboratory for the new IAC building.

After the inauguration of the new headquarters, the IAC faces new projects involving ourselves in digital imaging techniques. The first two-dimensional resistive sensors as IPDs and later as a CCD camera with 512 x 512pix cooled with LN2. Both was challenges for their photometric characterization what, without much reference literature nor easy access to it (1986 -1988), led me to devise tests and techniques that have been becoming common and matching concepts like "flatfield" "dark" or "bias" and that was a translation of the properties of simple detectors and photographic plates (—spatial, zonal, differential, spectral— response, veil, saturation, etc.).

While pursuing doctoral courses required for the third cycle, the IAC participation in Phase B of the project to the ISO satellite from the European Space Agency (ESA) began with the instrument ISOPHOT-S. A dual IR spectrograph (2.5-5μm and 6-12μm), which was one of the four instruments mounted on the ISOPHOT experiment. With the idea that this project constituted my new doctoral thesis under the supervision of Dr. Farancisco Garzón López and Dr. José Miguel Rodríguez Espinosa, I joined the project as optical engineering responsible for the development of mass, alignment and test models and for alignment, integration and verification of the flight and replacement models. For which I performed a complete characterization and calibration in laboratory as part of my thesis. Comparison with flight data would constitute the discussion and conclusions of the thesis. Due to the delay of the launching and retention of flight data by satellite consortium, I lose the deadline for submission of work denying me the University an especial extension when the data were finally released to close the work and, again, the thesis could not be defended. The instrument ISOPHOT-S was, without doubt, the most successful of the ISO-satellite laboratory's components in data and results. To carry out the project I learned and developed AIV techniques and measurements in middle and far infrared, manipulating opto-mechanical systems at temperatures of liquid helium at 4.2K. Also during project execution I developed skills and techniques of «programming for data acquisition and reduction and control programming of micrometric actuators». I also attended an introductory course of Code-V optical design program.

Combining the main project with tasks for implementation and maintenance of other equipment, telescopes and instruments I developed my optical engineering profile with optical design and opto-mechanical courses as well as participated in the technical development of Adaptive Optics (AO) with my participation in the project of a Solar Correlation Tracker, led by Dr. José Antonio Bonet for VTT telescope at Teide observatory by controlling a Tip-Tilt mirror by analyzing the image on a 32x32pixel detector. I also participated in the development of a Shack-Hartman Wavefront Sensor and the commissioning of another to the alignment of several telescopes of the Teide Observatory.

Upon completion of the project, and after to finish a new course of advanced techniques with Code-V,  together with a study of optical designs developing potential features of the design of future instruments for the 10-m GTC telescope, I joined as head of the AIV phase of INfrared CAmera (CAIN) for the 1.5m IR telescope TCS in OT. Combined with the development and implementation of improvements in CAIN-II, I participated in the testing phases of Virtual Acoustic Space (EAV because Spanish initials) system with the tests and analysis of stereoscopic parameters that allowed or favored images conversion to interpretable sounds by blind subjects. In 2000, with a course of interferometry in the ZYGO business (Middllefild-Connetticut-USA) and a visit to the company JANOS Technology (Vertmont-USA) during the manufacture of optics for the photometer and multi-slit Low and Intermediate Resolution Infrared Spectrograph (LIRIS), I also went on to take responsibility AIV of this instrument for the 4.2-m WHT telescope at the ORM. Simultaneously with this project I designed a modification, by means of optical fibers, for an ophthalmic retinograph to use a color illumination instead of direct white light (much more intense and annoy) and I participated with Professor González de la Rosa in the evaluation of the ocular fundus image analysis system using a video system.

After the successful completion of LIRIS project, in 2004, I joined in the final stages of design and manufacturing of optics of OSIRIS (wide-field visible spectrophotometer which was the first light instrument for GTC telescope), making me responsible for the final AIV of the instrument. At the same time I joined the working group and study of the ESO spectrographs, ESPRESSO and CODEX, in the preliminary phases of pre-design and conceptual design respectively. I also initiated the task of dismantling and redesigning the UES spectrograph retired of the WHT focus (GRACE). This new project was initiated as named BarRAKITO and I co-supervised, with Dra. Milagros Laz Pavón from the ULL, a final degree project of a mechanical engineer with the design of supporting structures and enclosure of the instrument. The modest initial project evolved to meet higher requirements and today constitutes HORUS. However, in the midtime (2005), I had to assume the opto-mechanical redesign, AIV and installation of Infrared Spectrograph for the 1.5-m GREGOR solar telescope (GRIS) from which Dr. Manuel Collados Vera is PI.

At the same time I was responsible for the development of the Lucky Imaging system called FastCam in March 2006. The development of this instrument has been finally my PhD thesis under the supervision of Dr. Ana Ulla Miguel and Dr. Alejandro Oscoz Abad. The FastCam achievements include to be the first visitor instrument mounted in GTC, even before the first science light, when it was only 24 segments installed. FastCam has obtained diffraction images at TSC in OT and NOT in ORM into bands R and I. It also achieved the highest resolution so far (2013) by telescopes WHT and GTC and with the R and I images of the binary system COU-292 of 0.068'' on WHT, the highest resolution ever obtained in the Canary Islands observatories. I adapted the optical system FastCam to NAOMI, the Adaptive Optics system in the GRACE focus of WHT. From 2010, the FastCam results have enabled to start the development of derivative instruments using EMCCD detectors and fast image processing techniques or recentering and sum to make a stellar coronagraph (FastCam-CORO) for WHT (2011-2012) and a wide-field photometer for stellar transits detection with high sensitivity and precision (WIDE-FastCam) to TCS, (2010-2013). I acted as a consultant and evaluator for a project of the University of the Basque Country, and developed by IDOM company (2011-2012), for studies of solar system objects using the same philosophy, PlanetCam. Another consequence of the project has been the source of a specific instrument with Lucky Imaging and Adaptive Optics (AOLI) of the Instituteof Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC) in cooperation with the Institute of Astronomy (IoA), University of Cambridge, the Polytechnic University of Cartagena (UPCT), the University of Cologne (UoC) and the collaboration of the Isaac Newton Group (ING) to be developed for the WHT telescope. ((AOLI is, currently (September 2013), it is in assembly and initial testing phase at the WHT.))

Since 2008 I went on to oversee the work of the European Solar Telescope optical design (EST) and the VIS-NIR integral field spectrograph for it, along with an IFU based on image slicers, MuSICa. Assuming directly both the design and AIV of the detectors for a seeing daytime monitor type Shabar (SHABARITOS) for this project led by Dr. Manuel Collados. Furthermore a collaboration with the plenoptic technology group directed by Dr. José Manuel Rodríguez Ramos from the University of La Laguna for a plenoptic system development to three-dimensional characterization and sampling of the atmosphere. This permits to control an adaptive optics system which allowed me to lead the design of an optical system with plenoptic sampling by microlenses what became the basic work of a project to capture All-in-Focus images for photography and 3D video: CAFADIS. This project has enabled to present an international patent.

Since 2010 I was involved in the development of visible and infrared spectrograph to monitor the transit of Venus in June 6, 2012: ESTranGIS (Extra-Solar Transits from Ground-based Instrument Simulator). We use a spectrograph and a visible CCD for channel from 450 to 900nm and a modified monochromator with an infrared CCD for the spectral range from 0.9 to 1.6 microns, both fed by two bundles of optical fibers with microlenses array at the entrance and realigned as a slit at the exit. In spite of supervision and consultation over designers and manufacturers of the three channels telescope (VIS, IR and monitoring) contracted, two months before D-Day, the given system did not work. For it I had to design and develop a viable collector system which could not be assembled and tested before shipment to Australia. Then I must to sit up in the expedition joined with Dr. Enric Pallé Bagó and to finish tuning a day before transit of Venus in the desert of Australia. Monitoring and data acquisition were a success, data reduction and results form part of a bigger package with other observations through the reflected light in the moon and some more.

After commissioning in GTC of OSIRIS in December 2009, I joined the team of Dr. Francísco Garzón with the Multislit IR Spectrophotometer (EMIR, from the spanish name) for GTC, assuming tasks of definition of the optical AIV process and tasks for installation the warm optic and cold checking. At the end 2010 I verified the functionality of the manufactured final optical system in cold. In 2011, I proceeded to align and verify the two folding mirror system to fold the axis, also, in cold and in 2012 I did the assembly and testing of warm-aligned optical system. ((Being at this time (September 2013) with cold checks.)) Between September and December, 2013, I did the cold verification of all system as in static mode as in the rotator simulator.

     In 2014 mechanisms test and the gold recoating of mirrors was done, verifying then the repeatability of the mounting.

While, in February 2013 I presented in UVIGO the doctoral thesis entitled "Design, construction and development of a diffraction-limited system for spotting scopes: FastCam" of those who were court Dr. Rafael Rebolo López, Dr. Begoña García Lorenzo and Dr. Manuel Martínez Piñeiro.

In September 2013 AOLI saw first light in WHT, checking some of the problems of integration of such a complex system. During 2014 it joined to the project the Adaptive Optics Group of the University of La Laguna for the development of a curvature wavefront sensor in pupil which can solve the problems of the nonlinear curvature multi-wavelength sensor devised by the IoA. The new system (geometric wavefront sensor) is based on geometric algorithms and working in white light, we hope it can work with less intense references.

Also in that year GTC has given priority to developments to provide an AO system, so that the IAC assumes AIV tasks in the GTCAOsystem, providing wavefront correction in the SWIR range. I joined the project in 2015, while we also begin a new adventure with the project of a mini-satellite which, initially, allows us to learn to mastering the technical design and implementation of the space field to perform our own projects and be application support for civilian tasks in other areas.
   The IACsat project intended as a demonstrator of capabilities by applying the most plausible innovations for future space missions as recommended by the ESA.


The FastPlan project idea is the same than FastCam but applied to study the solar system planets. For the observation from ground they have size and need an slightly greater field than FastCam, furthermore of some specific algorithm, or way to guide and recentering the stacking of  Lucky Images.
Return in 2015 to instrumental solar projects is again linked to the telescope GREGOR, this time to adapt a prototype of the IFU MuSICa, based in slicers and designed for the EST project, hence the name GRegor for EST (GREST). The project is part of the several developments taking place in the framework of SolarNET and is directed by Dr. Manuel Collados Vera.

As if these projects fail to take up all my time, from the Department of Optics we are driving the need to coordinate developments in all matters related with high resolution. Mainly from the point of view of astronomical and medical instrumentation, particularly from the standpoint of optics. For us it is important to have a clear line of development that we Sirba as the basis for all new instruments we are implying. So we intend to organize a Laboratory of High Resolution (dollars): Space (AO and LI) Spectral (IFUs [Slicers and fibers) Temporary and Photometric; which to conceive, design, develop and test different systems of Adaptive Optics, Lucky Imaging, and Image Recovery Phase 3D Integral Field, High frequency and low exposure photometry and contrast.
We are also devising a baseline of training for members of the department of optics so that we can go by supporting generational changes while maintaining the actualizació and specialization of different members of the department. On the basis of three guidelines of "specialization" lines such as optical design, AIV processes and Adaptive Optics. AIV field is obviously the most comprehensive and encompasses tasks or activities AIT with Optical Metrology, photometry, Calibration, which leads to radiometry. Issues also requires special production and therefore monitoring and product acceptance.
But on a more general level it is clear that we need Automation and Control issues, prototyping, data processing, Opto-Mechanical Design ... Like many optical techniques such as photometry, interferometry who enroll in a more tactical line training and use of resources (Specialization or Basic Training). And of course topics and fundamental knowledge of optics and astronomical instrumentation.


Al these projects where I worked have been a success and they give me confidence and illusion to continue thinking in new challenge, new ideas and new developments for new astronomical instruments.




last modification: 2017.12.12


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