Speckle-metric-optimization-based adaptive optics for laser beam projection and coherent beam combining.

Maximization of a projected laser beam's power density at a remotely located extended object (speckle target) can be achieved by using an adaptive optics (AO) technique based on sensing and optimization of the target-return speckle field's statistical characteristics, referred to here as speckle metrics (SM). SM AO was demonstrated in a target-in-the-loop coherent beam combining experiment using a bistatic laser beam projection system composed of a coherent fiber-array transmitter and a power-in-the-bucket receiver. SM sensing utilized a 50 MHz rate dithering of the projected beam that provided a stair-mode approximation of the outgoing combined beam's wavefront tip and tilt with subaperture piston phases.

Experimental demonstration of coherent beam combining over a 7 km propagation path.

We demonstrate coherent combining (phase locking) of seven laser beams emerging from an adaptive fiber-collimator array over a 7 km atmospheric propagation path using a target-in-the-loop (TIL) setting. Adaptive control of the piston and the tip and tilt wavefront phase at each fiber-collimator subaperture resulted in automatic focusing of the combined beam onto an unresolved retroreflector target (corner cube) with precompensation of quasi-static and atmospheric turbulence-induced phase aberrations. Both phase locking (piston) and tip-tilt control were performed by maximizing the target-return optical power using iterative stochastic parallel gradient descent (SPGD) techniques.

Deep turbulence effects compensation experiments with a cascaded adaptive optics system using a 3.63 m telescope.

Compensation of extended (deep) turbulence effects is one of the most challenging problems in adaptive optics (AO). In the AO approach described, the deep turbulence wave propagation regime was achieved by imaging stars at low elevation angles when image quality improvement with conventional AO was poor. These experiments were conducted at the U.

Synthetic imaging: nonadaptive anisoplanatic image correction in atmospheric turbulence.

We introduce a synthetic-imaging technique that can be applied to correct anisoplanatic images degraded by atmospheric turbulence. This method is based on local image-quality analysis applied to a large set of short-exposure images and can be considered a generalization of the frame-selection technique. Experimental results obtained for atmospheric data demonstrate the efficiency of the synthetic-imaging technique in improving image quality.

Adaptive phase distortion correction in strong speckle-modulation conditions.

We introduce beam-quality metrics for adaptive wave-front control that permit estimation of the degree of laser beam energy concentration on a remotely located extended object based upon the backscattered wave intensity distribution at the receiver. A 37-control-channel adaptive optics system with phase correction of the output wave capable of operating in the presence of speckle-field-induced strong intensity modulation is presented. System operation is based on optimization of the speckle-field-based metric by the stochastic parallel gradient descent technique.