A prime-focus optical system is a common type of large aperture survey telescope with a small obscuration ratio, high transmittance, and simple structure. As the detection capabilities and search efficiency of the telescope are improved, the aperture of the primary mirror becomes larger. The primary mirror aperture of a high-performance survey telescope has a four-meter scale, and the aperture of the corrector lenses of a corresponding prime-focus optical system can reach a one-meter scale. In this study, optical surface shape changes due to gravity were studied via an integrated optomechanical analysis. The Zernike polynomial was used to characterize the changed optical surface. The influence of optical surface variations on the wavefront and imaging quality of the optical system was analyzed by calculating the optical path differences. From the perspective of optical aberration, the optical properties of meter-level corrector lenses were quantitatively analyzed. The effect of the meter-level corrector lenses on imaging was explained in principle, and the feasibility of this optical scheme was verified.

With advances in scientific foundations and engineering practice, segmented mirrors—a key architecture for realizing extremely large apertures and high-resolution imaging—have become foundational across space astronomy, ground-based telescopes, and advanced manufacturing. In recent years, interferometry, which leverages optical coherence and phase sensitivity, has become a powerful tool for inter-segment co-phasing. Its capabilities have advanced markedly owing to developments in multi-wavelength techniques, high-speed high-dynamic-range detectors, and instantaneous phase-shifting methods. Relative to non-interferometric sensing, interferometry directly encodes and unwraps phase. This enables a unified framework that combines millimeter-scale dynamic range with nanometer-level resolution throughout coarse acquisition, fine phasing, and in situ maintenance. This paper first outlines the degrees of freedom and error sources in segmented mirrors. It then reviews the configurations and acquisition strategies of shearing, Mach–Zehnder, Michelson, Fizeau, and PISTIL interferometers, and systematizes interferogram processing methods—such as phase-shifting, synthetic-wavelength techniques, and digital holography—for retrieving piston and tip/tilt. Accuracy of piston is λ/50–λ/100, and tip/tilt accuracy can reach the arcsecond level, with resolution at the nanometer scale. Finally, we discuss pathways to extend interferometric metrology from segmented mirrors to other discontinuous surfaces (e.g., segmented detectors, segmented gratings, microlens arrays) and outlines future research directions.

The wide-field telescope will be an important tool in the discovery and birth of new theories of astronomy in future. The detectors in this kind of telesco