SOAR Adaptive Module (SAM): Seeing Improvement with a UV Laser

The adaptive module of the 4.1 m SOAR telescope, SOAR Adaptive Module (SAM), corrects ground-layer turbulence using an ultraviolet laser guide star. It has been commissioned in 2013 and it is in regular science operation since 2014. SAM works with the CCD imager covering a 3' field or with the speckle camera. It operates routinely and stably, delivering resolution in the I band equal to the free-atmosphere seeing. This paper describes the SAM system as a whole, providing essential reference for its users and technical information of interest to instrumentalists. Operation of the instrument, its performance, and science projects done with SAM so far are reviewed.