Adaptive Optics at Adaptive Optics

Adaptive Optics Systems

Most optical systems have defects in construction or factors in their environment that prevent them from operating optimally. Looking across a hot parking lot in the summer, it is easy to see these defects as ripples and shimmers that distort the scene. The same thing happens in the use of optical telescopes, and small errors in manufacturing limit the quality of camera lenses, microscopes, and even eyeglasses.

Adaptive optics are designed to measure such errors continually and correct them automatically. The corrections are made by a special computer-controlled deformable mirror that can change its shape to cancel other errors in the system. The errors themselves are measured by a highly accurate instrument called a wavefront sensor that provides the correction signals to the mirror. The complete assembly of wavefront sensor, deformable mirror, computers, control hardware and special software form an adaptive optical system.

AOA's WaveScope® Wavefront Sensor is an innovative precision electro-optical instrument that can replace an interferometer. It is an optical wavefront sensor system which does not require a coherent monochromatic source. It is insensitive to vibration and room turbulence, and can have a dynamic range of hundreds of waves of aberration.

It forms the basis for a family of low-cost measurement and closed-loop correction systems that can handle real-time astronomy, laser communication or on-line quality control.

Max-Plank Institute for Astronomy

The ALFA closed loop adaptive optics system was built by AOA for the Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy and installed on their 3.5 meter telescope in Calar Alto Spain in 1997. ALFA was the first commercially contracted adaptive optics system for a large astronomical telescope and is now in regular use by astronomers. AOA's adaptive optics corrects for motions of the atmosphere which normally blur the images taken by the telescope, allowing astronomers to see much finer detail. A demonstration of ALFA's performance can be seen in the movie below. All images are 100 ms exposures taken of a star called Omega-Cass in K band. The observed object was a bright point source of magnitude V=8. The first 100 images are open loop data, the next 100 are with tip-tilt compensation on, and the last 100 images are with tip-tilt and high order compensation on.

Custom Systems Adaptive Optics Associates builds a large variety of custom and off-the-shelf sensors and systems for scientific and industrial use.

WaveScope is a complete line of cost-effective wavefront sensors designed to bring AOA technology to commercial measurement. Combining the accuracy of the best interferometers with the robustness of an industrial video system, a WaveScope sensor has the ability to deal with almost any application or wavelength.

WaveScope and WaveLab are trademarks used by Adaptive Optics, Inc. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective holders. WaveScope is protected under one or more of the following US patents: 4,490,039; 4,737,621; 5,629,76.