New concept of adaptive optical system creation

An analytical model of an active flexible mirror is described in which a thin plate with discrete piezoactuators comprises the proposed mechanism. The model of the adaptive mirror (AM) surface formation is given in terms of the thin-plate theory of the substrate's and actuator's elastic interaction. AM parameters are determined by means of the model as is a numerical simulation of the AM operation in an adaptive optical system (AOS). The AOS control algorithm utilizes orthogonalization of the wavefront sensor to overcome phase distortion in phase conjugation. A Hartmann-type wavefront sensor and a mirrorlike phase corrector with discrete actuators are considered in the numerical simulation of the phase-conjugate AOS. Compensation error in the proposed 19-channel hexagonal-array AM algorithm is found to be between 1.5 and 4 times higher than that required for optimal control in the case of Seidel aberrations.