1. Real-time control system for adaptive resonator
- Author
-
Dennis A. Silva, James M. Brase, Jong R. An, Randall L. Hurd, Robert M. Sawvel, Michael W. Kartz, and Laurence M. Flath
- Subjects
Wavefront ,Engineering ,Adaptive control ,business.industry ,Real-time Control System ,Control theory ,Control system ,Electronic engineering ,Wavefront sensor ,business ,Adaptive optics ,Deformable mirror - Abstract
Sustained operation of high average power solid-state lasers currently requires an adaptive resonator to produce the optimal beam quality. We describe the architecture of a real-time adaptive control system for correcting intra-cavity aberrations in a heat capacity laser. Image data collected from a wavefront sensor are processed and used to control phase with a high-spatial-resolution deformable mirror. Our controller takes advantage of recent developments in low-cost, high-performance processor technology. A desktop-based computational engine and object- oriented software architecture replaces the high-cost rack-mount embedded computers of previous systems.
- Published
- 2000
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