Adaptive optics

The wavefront of an aberrated image (left) can be measured using a wavefront sensor (center) and then corrected for using a deformable mirror (right).

Adaptive optics (AO) is a technique of precisely deforming a mirror in order to compensate for light distortion. It is used in astronomical telescopes[1] and laser communication systems to remove the effects of atmospheric distortion, in microscopy,[2] optical fabrication[3] and in retinal imaging systems[4] to reduce optical aberrations. Adaptive optics works by measuring the distortions in a wavefront and compensating for them with a device that corrects those errors such as a deformable mirror or a liquid crystal array.

Adaptive optics should not be confused with active optics, which work on a longer timescale to correct the primary mirror geometry.

Other methods can achieve resolving power exceeding the limit imposed by atmospheric distortion, such as speckle imaging, aperture synthesis, and lucky imaging, or by moving outside the atmosphere with space telescopes, such as the Hubble Space Telescope.

  1. ^ Beckers, J.M. (1993). "Adaptive Optics for Astronomy: Principles, Performance, and Applications". Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics. 31 (1): 13–62. Bibcode:1993ARA&A..31...13B. doi:10.1146/annurev.aa.31.090193.000305.
  2. ^ Booth, Martin J (15 December 2007). "Adaptive optics in microscopy" (PDF). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. 365 (1861): 2829–2843. Bibcode:2007RSPTA.365.2829B. doi:10.1098/rsta.2007.0013. PMID 17855218. S2CID 123094060. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  3. ^ Booth, Martin J.; Schwertner, Michael; Wilson, Tony; Nakano, Masaharu; Kawata, Yoshimasa; Nakabayashi, Masahito; Miyata, Sou (1 January 2006). "Predictive aberration correction for multilayer optical data storage" (PDF). Applied Physics Letters. 88 (3): 031109. Bibcode:2006ApPhL..88c1109B. doi:10.1063/1.2166684. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  4. ^ Roorda, A; Williams, DR (2001). "Retinal imaging using adaptive optics". In MacRae, S; Krueger, R; Applegate, RA (eds.). Customized Corneal Ablation: The Quest for SuperVision. SLACK, Inc. pp. 11–32. ISBN 978-1-55642-625-4.