High-speed imaging and wavefront sensing with an infrared avalanche photodiode array

Infrared avalanche photodiode arrays represent a panacea for many branches of astronomy by enabling extremely low-noise, high-speed and even photon-counting measurements at near-infrared wavelengths. We recently demonstrated the use of an early engineering-grade infrared avalanche photodiode array that achieves a correlated double sampling read noise of 0.73 e- in the lab, and a total noise of 2.52 e- on sky, and supports simultaneous high-speed imaging and tip-tilt wavefront sensing with the Robo-AO visible-light laser adaptive optics system at the Palomar Observatory 1.5-m telescope. We report here on the improved image quality achieved simultaneously at visible and infrared wavelengths by using the array as part of an image stabilization control-loop with adaptive-optics sharpened guide stars. We also discuss a newly enabled survey of nearby late M-dwarf multiplicity as well as future uses of this technology in other adaptive optics and high-contrast imaging applications.