Adaptive compensation of atmospheric turbulence utilizing an interferometric wave-front sensor and a high-resolution MEMS-based spatial light modulator

摘要

Horizontal path correction of optical beam propagation presents a severe challenge to adaptive optics systems due to the short transverse coherence length and the high degree of scintillation incurred by propagation along these paths. The system presented operates with nearly monochromatic light. It does not require a global reconstruction of the phase, thereby eliminating issues with branch points and making its performance relatively unaffected by scintillation. The systems pixel count, 1024, and relatively high correction speed, in excess of 800 Hz, enable its use for correction of horizontal path beam propagation. We present results from laboratory and field tests of the system in which we have achieved Strehl ratios greater than 0.5.