A technology that uses a wavefront sensor to detect phase errors and a deformable mirror to instantly cancel them out. While famous for removing atmospheric blur in astronomy, it is heavily used in high-power laser facilities to correct thermal lensing and maintain a tight focal spot. The control loop runs at hundreds or thousands of hertz to keep the beam pristine.
Heard on the job
The thermal distortion in the amplifier crystal was ruining the beam profile until we installed the adaptive optics loop.
Also heard as
- AO