Beam Control (BC) for Ship Self-Defense

Under this Phase I SBIR, the Kestrel Corporation proposes to demonstrate the advantages of a novel optical technique for measuring wavefront aberrations under maritime propagation conditions. The proposed technique has been conceptually demonstratedduring earlier laboratory experiments where our distorted grating based wavefront sensor reconstructed phase maps under highly scintillated, but non-scattering, conditions that could not accurately be reconstructed using conventional wavefront sensors.The technique also has the potential of overcoming existing shortfalls in wavefront sensing by providing increased accuracy, improved optical efficiency, and relaxed alignment requirements. The basis for our commercialization is an adaptation of thedistorted grating wavefront sensor to a medical problem in ophthalmic imaging. The focus of these interests is adapting the novel wavefront sensing research to cornea wavefront measurements and in using the sensor as a replacement for existing wavefrontmeasurement techniques in an adaptive optics enhancement to fundus imaging. The most direct military application of the proposed work is with the Navy's HEL as a wavefront sensor that is better suited to the highly scintillated propagation conditionsexpected by this weapon system. In this Navy application an ability to provide atmospheric corrections is critical to overall system performance. Intrinsic to being able to make these corrections is knowledge of the current propagation pathcharacteristics. Use in Space Based HEL system, where the laser source is located on the Earth's surface, is a logical extension of the research as are potentials in HEL laser diagnostics. Uses in adaptive optics imaging systems for tactical battlefieldemployment as a wavefront sensor for adaptive optics use by multiple DoD agencies is projected.