Performance tests of a 1500 degree-of-freedom adaptive optics system for atmospheric compensation

Results from a benchtop experiment to demonstrate phase compensation using a 512 segment, 1500 degree-of-freedom adaptive optic system are presented. Atmospheric phase distortion is simulated by a static Kolmogorov spectrum aberration plate with r0 equal to the subaperture size. The phase gradients are measured using a Poisson-limited, self-referenced shearing interferometer which operated at two distinct shear lengths. A parallel processor is then employed utilizing a sparse matrix multiply to reconstruct the phase front in realtime. The performance of the compensation was determined by measuring the normalized half lambda/D intensity ratio in the Fourier transform plane. Corrections to a Strehl ratio of 0.55 were performed, consistent with the measured sensitivity of the system.© (1991) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.