A low cost adaptive optics system using a membrane mirror

A low cost adaptive optics system constructed almost entirely of commercial ly available components is presented. The system uses a 37 actuator membran e mirror and operates at fram rates up to 800 Hz using a single processor. Numerical modelling of the membrane mirror is used to optimize parameters o f the system. The dynamic performance of the system is investigated in deta il using a diffractive wavefront generator based on a ferroelectric spatial light modulator. This is used to produce wavefronts with time-varying aber rations. The ability of the system to correct for Kolmogorov turbulence wit h different strengths and effective wind speeds is measured experimentally using th wavefront generator. (C) 2000 Optical Society of America.