Coherent optical adaptive techniques: design and performance of an 18-element visible multidither COAT system

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Adaptive Optics
• Atmospheric Optics

Background:

• Atmospheric turbulence and absorption distort optical beams.
• Coherent Optical Adaptive Techniques (COAT) aim to mitigate these distortions.
• Adaptive optics systems are crucial for maintaining beam quality in challenging environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe and evaluate an 18-element, visible wavelength, multidither COAT system.
• To demonstrate the system's capability in forming and controlling optical arrays.
• To validate theoretical predictions with experimental results.

Main Methods:

• Design and implementation of an all solid-state servosystem based on computer simulations.
• Utilizing a 0.488-microm argon laser and a phasor matrix for beam manipulation.
• Investigating linear (6- and 8-element) and axisymmetric (18-element) arrays.

Main Results:

• Achieved a convergence time of 1.2 milliseconds.
• Demonstrated the ability to form an optical array with a Strehl ratio of 0.67.
• Successfully performed moving glint tracking, multiple glint discrimination, and offset pointing.

Conclusions:

• The developed 18-element COAT system effectively overcomes atmospheric phase distortions.
• Experimental results show strong agreement with theoretical predictions.
• COAT systems show significant promise for applications requiring high-quality optical beam propagation through turbulent atmospheres.