Correction of Atmospheric Effects on Laser Beams Propagating through Strong Turbulence

Atmospheric effects limit the performance of any electro-optical (EO) system. Tasks such as delivery of directed energy and laser communications are significantly affected by turbulence and refraction. A correction of atmospheric effects on the propagation of light can be done by adaptive optics (AO). Nevertheless, challenging scenarios like strong turbulence near the ground lead to high failure rates of the traditional AO systems. Unconventional wavefront sensors and sensing strategies are developed at Fraunhofer IOSB to provide alternatives for measuring the wavefront deformation of a laser beam and to improve the performance of energy delivery and laser communications applications even in strong turbulence and/or horizontal- or slant-path propagation.