Adaptive Optics Transceiver for Beam Control

Effective operation of eventual laser power/energy delivering systems to distant receivers require an adaptive optics technique capable of correcting moderate to heavy atmospheric distortion along the propagation path. The following two factors are essential for laser beam delivery to be effective: beaconless operation of the system and a quality wavefront sensor (WFS). This proposal outlines the analysis of the innovative approach beaconless with its operation based on the Adaptive Optics Transceiver (AOT) for the most effective collection and light scattered by a distant target, and can operate with both coherent and incoherent illuminated object to form the beacon. Capturing with AOT the target-scattered light-field and processing it using WFS of appropriate speed will enable characterization of the atmosphere-perturbed wavefront and establish a virtual beacon on the target without it (laser) illumination. Phase I activities include modeling and design of AOT coupled with adequate WFS capable to characterize wavefront aberrations in simulated perturbations equivalent to Rytov > 0.3. In Phase II we plan to engineer and validate a prototype-level AOT –WFS system, culminating the program with its test in a realistic test environment.