Provides a summary of the methods for determining the requirements of an adaptive optics system, the performance of the system, and the requirements for the components of the system. This second edition has a greatly expanded presentation of adaptive optics control system design and operation. Discussions of control models are accompanied by various recommendations for implementing the algorithms in hardware.

This handbook supplies analytical tools for the design and development of adaptive optics systems to enhance their ability to adjust for atmospheric turbulence, optical fabrication errors, thermally induced distortions, and laser device aberrations. It provides recommendations for selecting, testing and installing a wavefront compensation system.

Since the publication of the second edition of Principles of Adaptive Optics, the developments and applications in this area have increased tremendously. Observatories are now producing outstanding science through adaptive optics technology; components, such as micromachined deformable mirrors and very low noise detectors, are revolutionizing the f

Adaptive Optics (AO) is a technique allowing the manipulation of the wavefront of the light benefitting multiple fields like Microscopy, Optical Coherence Tomography, Visual Testing, Optical Communications, and Astronomical Optics, just to mention some examples. Handbook of Adaptive Optics contains a complete picture of the technique from the foundations to the most promising applications of AO in a variety of fields. Within this book, the reader will find different sections, including: a complete and rigorous introduction to the foundation of the technique from a general perspective, providing the reader a solid basis in AO with particular emphasis on wavefront sensing methods and aberration correctors. It also discusses state-of-the-art applications and industrial usages with their particular constraints and methods to incorporate AO, like in some imaging techniques of importance for Biomedical Optics, in Astronomy and for Visual Optics. Furthermore, it explores discussions of the future of AO together with some of the most exciting emerging applications, including quantum technologies, scattering correction, space telescopes, and discrete AO, among others. This timely handbook will be an important companion to those starting in the field, but it will also serve as a comprehensive resource for researchers and experts who are already working with AO.

This handbook supplies analytical tools for the design and development of adaptive optics systems to enhance their ability to adjust for atmospheric turbulence, optical fabrication errors, thermally induced distortions, and laser device aberrations. It provides recommendations for selecting, testing and installing a wavefront compensation system.

Adaptive optics systems and components have achieved a level of sophistication and simplicity that goes beyond traditional applications in astronomy and the military and into developments in medicine, manufacturing, and communications. This book was written for those interested in the multidisciplinary technology and those who need a broad-brush explanation without wading through thousands of journal articles. It follows the structure of a one-day tutorial taught by the author, including humor and sidebars of historical material.

This book by one of the leaders in adaptive optics covers the fundamental theory and then describes in detail how this technology can be applied to large ground-based telescopes to compensate for the effects of atmospheric turbulence. It includes information on basic adaptive optics components and technology, and has chapters devoted to atmospheric turbulence, optical image structure, laser beacons, and overall system design. The chapter on system design is particularly detailed and includes performance estimation and optimization. Combining a clear discussion of physical principles with numerous real-world examples, this book will be a valuable resource for all graduate students and researchers in astronomy and optics.

The blossoming of adaptive optical techniques has brought about a revolution in the field of astronomical observation. Coupled with the new generation of large, ground-based telescopes, it allows us to achieve an unprecendented angular resolution in the analysis of faint astronomical sources at optical wavelengths. This book provides the basic concepts of adaptive optics, discusses the possible instrumental strategies and the state-of-the-art technical achievements of this development and presents the key astrophysical programs which will most benefit from it. Over fifteen well-known experts have contributed to making this volume a comprehensive one, with steady progression as well as full coverage of the various aspects of the field. Students graduating in optical sciences and astrophysics, astronomers, engineers interested in atmospheric turbulence compensation will find this book a reference text on the subject.

Adaptive optics is set to revolutionise the future of astronomy; this is the first book on the subject and is set to become the standard reference.

Principles of Adaptive Optics covers the basic principles of optics, wavefront sensing, controls, and wavefront correction that encompass the specialized field called adaptive optics. This book is composed of eight chapters that summarize the fundamental technology developments and the basic understanding of the various disciplines used in adaptive optics. After briefly reviewing the history, background, and developments of adaptive optics, this book goes on discussing the many sources of phase aberrations addressed by adaptive optics systems, such as linear effects due to turbulence, optical manufacturing, and misalignments, as well as errors that result from nonlinear thermal effects and fluid properties. The subsequent chapter deals with the performance enhancing role of adaptive optics systems in various disturbances. Other chapters describe the wavefront sampling, sensing, and correction subsystems. The concluding chapters explore the fundamental principles behind the adaptive optics control system and present summary expressions to determine the basic system parameters of an adaptive optics atmospheric compensation system. Communication scientists and engineers will find this work invaluable.