The concept of adaptive optics for improving the cost-performance of free-s
pace optoelectronic interconnects is discussed. Adaptive optics as a design
option for optical interconnect systems is presented and discussed. A prac
tical demonstrator that performs low-order correction was built and tested.
Slowly varying misalignments, including thermal effects, were compensated
for in a 622-Mbit/s free-space optical data link. (C) 2000 Optical Society
of America.