High-angular resolution near-infrared images obtained with the Canada-Franc
e-Hawaii Telescope adaptive optics system are combined with archival Hubble
Space Telescope data to investigate the central regions of the nearby Sb g
alaxy M81 (NGC 3031). The spectral-energy distribution of the circumnuclear
region, which extends out to 1." 5 (similar to 24 pc if mu(0) = 27.5) from
the nucleus, can be modeled as a combination of an old metal-rich populati
on and emission from hot dust. Thermal emission, which has been attributed
to hot dust, has been detected near other active galactic nuclei, and simpl
e models indicate that hot dust can account for similar to 20% of the light
in K within 0." 5 of the M81 nucleus. An elongated structure with M-V simi
lar to -7, which may be an area of active star formation, is detected 0." 4
5 from the nucleus. At distances in excess of 1." 5 from the nucleus, the J
-K color of the M81 bulge is not significantly different from what is seen
in M31. The HST data are also used to search for bright globular clusters w
ithin 2 kpc of the center of M81. The area within 0.26 kpc of the M81 nucle
us is largely devoid of bright globular clusters, in agreement with what is
seen in the central regions of the Galaxy and M31. However, our survey ind
icates that there may be similar to 45 +/- 12 globular cluster candidates w
ith M-V less than or equal to -7 within 2 kpc of the galaxy center, which i
s consistent with what would be infrared from the Milky Way cluster system
after adjusting for differences in the total number of clusters.