Recent Advances In Adaptive Optics Methods And Technology

Adaptive wavefront-correction concepts employing deformable mirror technologies have been under investigation for nearly four decades, but most of the important hardware advances have taken place in the last 15 years. State-of-the-art systems comprise second-generation components that are capable of simultaneously manipulating several hundred mirror actuators at kilohertz rates. In tests performed at visible wavelengths, these systems have demonstrated an ability to achieve near-unity Strehl ratios when coupled with telescopes having apertures in the 0.5 to 1-meter range. The third-generation technologies currently under development are intended to be scalable to transmitters of significantly greater dimensions.