Patent · US Expired

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR EFFECTING HIGH-POWER BEAM CONTROL WITH OUTGOING WAVEFRONT CORRECTION UTILIZING HOLOGRAPHIC SAMPLING AT PRIMARY MIRROR, PHASE CONJUGATION, AND ADAPTIVE OPTICS IN LOW POWER BEAM PATH

US6849841B2 · kind B2 · utility

23Cited by
17References
19Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateSep 28, 2001
Grant dateFeb 1, 2005
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 27, 2021

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG02B27/0037
  • WIPO fieldOptics
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

A beam control system and method. In an illustrative embodiment, the inventive system (500) provides a first beam of electromagnetic energy (503); samples the first beam (503) and provides a second beam (505) in response thereto; detects aberrations in the second beam (505); and corrects aberrations in the first beam (503) in response to the detected aberrations. In a specific implementation, the invention (500) includes a beam director telescope (510) having a primary mirror (516) on which a holographic optical element (518) is disposed. The holographic optical element (518) samples the output high-power beam and provides a sampled beam to a wavefront sensor (520). The wavefront sensor (520) provides signals to an adaptive optics processor (580). The adaptive optics processor (580) analyzes the sampled wavefront, detects aberrations therein and provides a correction signal to an optical phased array (550).

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.