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Adaptive Optics and Wavefront Sensing
Chapter 8
8. Adaptive Optics and
Wavefront Sensing
Robert K. Tyson
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
8.1 Basic Principles
Adaptive optics is a technique whereby a combination of electro-optical technologies
provides real-time wavefront control of a beam of light. e light can be incoming from a
source far away, like a distant star or galaxy, or it can be outgoing light such as a laser used
for free-space communications or a weapon. e reason that the wavefront must be con-
trolled is because there is some unknown dynamic disturbance to the beam. Conventional
adaptive optics (AO) systems consist of ...