Astronomers have been using adaptive optics since about 1990
to "untwinkle the stars" – to sharpen stellar images degraded by
atmospheric turbulence. Some high-end military applications
have been using the technology for even longer.
(See how AO works).
Many medical and industrial applications could also benefit from these
methods.
In ophthalmology, adaptive optics allows the human retina to be imaged
at high resolution
(this paper gives an example).
Adaptive optics can also allow human vision to
be corrected to beyond its usual natural limit – "super-vision".
Free space optical communication, "fibre optics without the fibre",
provides a way to send data optically through the air, without the need
to lay fibre. A UK collaborative research programme,
'ALFONSO',
is developing adaptive optics technologies for future FSO systems.
See the press release here.
The snag is that the
astronomical adaptive optics technologies have
an astronomical cost – between one and ten million pounds
for each of these "big science", one-off systems.
The price has to come down a thousand-fold to open up
the emerging industrial markets and applications.
What's more, "all-in-one" adaptive optics systems,
not bare optical devices, are needed,
to allow optical engineers
to build in adaptive optics capability
without needing specialist expertise in this subject.
Starpoint's Role
That's where Starpoint comes in.
Its industry-leading
Quicksilver™
board-level adaptive optics
systems combine the latest developments in low-cost,
MEMS-based adaptive mirrors with ultra-sensitive,
electron multiplying CCD detectors. They also add embedded,
fully programmable signal processing capability
alongside these devices, to offer an all-in-one adaptive optics
system for the price of a good oscilloscope.
Quicksilver™ takes the most exciting innovations in
device-level technologies, from many potential sources,
and combines them to provide leading levels of system integration.
With these products,
Starpoint stands front and centre in low cost adaptive optics technology.
A series of
newsletters published by the University of California's
Centre for Adaptive Optics
also provides an up-to-date look at developments in this field.
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