Setting up a liquid crystal phase screen to simulate atmospheric turbulence

Michael K. Giles; Anthony J. Seward; Mikhail A. Vorontsov; Jungtae Rha; Ray Jimenez

doi:10.1117/12.407491

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22 November 2000 Setting up a liquid crystal phase screen to simulate atmospheric turbulence

Michael K. Giles, Anthony J. Seward, Mikhail A. Vorontsov, Jungtae Rha, Ray Jimenez

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Proceedings Volume 4124, High-Resolution Wavefront Control: Methods, Devices, and Applications II; (2000) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.407491
Event: International Symposium on Optical Science and Technology, 2000, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

Phase screens are often used to simulate atmospheric turbulence in systems designed to test adaptive optics techniques. This paper presents the design and implementation of a dynamic phase screen using a simple and inexpensive twisted nematic liquid crystal display taken from a video projector and placed in a pupil plane. The details of the optical system layout, the system alignment procedure, and the operating parameters of the liquid crystal display are discussed. Examples of turbulence (having strength and statistics similar to measured values of atmospheric turbulence in a variety of scenarios) are written to the phase screen, and the effects of the turbulence on image quality are measured and presented.

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Michael K. Giles, Anthony J. Seward, Mikhail A. Vorontsov, Jungtae Rha, and Ray Jimenez "Setting up a liquid crystal phase screen to simulate atmospheric turbulence", Proc. SPIE 4124, High-Resolution Wavefront Control: Methods, Devices, and Applications II, (22 November 2000); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.407491

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