title: Emulation of dynamic wavefront disturbances using a deformable mirror.
abstract: Boundary-layer turbulence resulting from uneven airflow around window interfaces can impact airborne laser communications (lasercom). In the focal plane, these distortions can produce fast jitter and beam break-up, posing challenges for tracking and communications. We demonstrate an experimental emulator that reproduces aircraft aero-optical distortions using a deformable mirror. This boundary-layer emulator resides in a hardware testbed that experimentally mimics air-to-space lasercom links in a controlled, laboratory environment. The boundary-layer emulator operates in the 1.55-mum band and accurately recreates aero-optical distortions at a rate of 2 kilo-frames per second.
authors.affiliation: Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,Cambridge, MA 02139, USA . raconrad@gmail.com
authors.forename: Ross A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Conrad
authors.forename: Williams E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Wilcox
authors.forename: Timothy H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Michael
authors.forename: Jeffrey M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Roth