Strehl’s ratio for a two-wavelength continuously deformable optical adaptive transmitter

Polychromatic adaptive optical systems differ from monochromatic systems in that the required phase compensation is measured at a wavelength (or wavelengths) different from that at which compensation is required. Unfortunately, the effect of turbulence is dispersive, and consequently, because of the wavelength difference, the compensation will not be exact. In an effort to determine the magnitude of the effect, a formulation of Strehl’s ratio for the polychromatic case has been developed and numerical data generated for both horizontal and vertical paths.