Dennis A. Silva

High-speed horizontal-path atmospheric turbulence correction with a large-actuator-number microelectromechanical system spatial light modulator in an interferometric phase-conjugation engine

Results of atmospheric propagation for a high-speed, large-actuator-number adaptive optics system are presented. The system uses a microelectromechanical system- (MEMS-) based spatial light modulator correction device with 1024 actuators. Tests over a 1.35-km path achieved correction speeds in excess of 800 Hz and Strehl ratios close to 0.5. The wave-front sensor was based on a quadrature interferometer that directly measures phase. This technique does not require global wave-front reconstruction, making it relatively insensitive to scintillation and phase residues. The results demonstrate the potential of large-actuator-number MEMS-based spatial light modulators to replace conventional deformable mirrors.

Retinal Imaging With Adaptive Optics Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscopy in Unexplained Central Ring Scotoma

Adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscopy allows for noninvasive, in vivo visualization of retinal abnormalities at a cellular level. We herein describe for the first time, to our knowledge, the utility of high-resolution retinal imaging in studying the photoreceptor mosaic in an otherwise unexplained visual disturbance. Imaging of the cone mosaic was performed in a 64-year-old man with a unilateral ringlike paracentral distortion that could not be explained using common clinical imaging instruments. Adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscopy findings revealed a parafoveal circular abnormality of the cone mosaic approximately 3 degrees in diameter that corresponded to the ring of visual disturbance. Visualization of the cone mosaic with adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscopy can reveal photoreceptor damage that may not be detectable with standard imaging devices. Optical axial sectioning of the retina may help in identifying and localizing abnormalities within the retinal layers.

Characterization and operation of a liquid crystal adaptive optics phoropter

Adaptive optics (AO), a mature technology developed for astronomy to compensate for the effects of atmospheric turbulence, can also be used to correct the aberrations of the eye. The classic phoropter is used by ophthalmologists and optometrists to estimate and correct the lower-order aberrations of the eye, defocus and astigmatism, in order to derive a vision correction prescription for their patients. An adaptive optics phoropter measures and corrects the aberrations in the human eye using adaptive optics techniques, which are capable of dealing with both the standard low-order aberrations and higher-order aberrations, including coma and spherical aberration. High-order aberrations have been shown to degrade visual performance for clinical subjects in initial investigations. An adaptive optics phoropter has been designed and constructed based on a Shack-Hartmann sensor to measure the aberrations of the eye, and a liquid crystal spatial light modulator to compensate for them. This system should produce near diffraction-limited optical image quality at the retina, which will enable investigation of the psychophysical limits of human vision. This paper describes the characterization and operation of the AO phoropter with results from human subject testing.

Open- and closed-loop aberration correction by use of a quadrature interferometric wave-front sensor

Experimental results are presented for an adaptive optics system based on a quadrature Twyman-Green interferometric wave-front sensor. The system uses a circularly polarized reference beam to form two interferograms with a pi/2 phase shift. The experiments conducted used Kolmogorov phase screens to simulate atmospheric phase distortions. Strehl ratio improvements by a factor of 8, to an absolute value of 0.45, are demonstrated.

Performance of a phase-conjugate engine implementing a finite-bit phase correction

The achievable Strehl ratio when a finite-bit correction to an aberrated wave front is implemented is examined. The phase-conjugate engine used to measure the aberrated wave front consists of a quadrature interferometric wave-front sensor, a liquid-crystal spatial light modulator, and computer hardware-software to calculate and apply the correction. A finite-bit approximation to the conjugate phase is calculated and applied to the spatial light modulator to remove the aberrations from the optical beam. The experimentally determined Strehl ratio of the corrected beam is compared with analytical expressions for the expected Strehl ratio and shown to be in good agreement with those predictions.

Breadboard testing of a phase-conjugate engine with an interferometric wave-front sensor and a microelectromechanical systems-based spatial light modulator

Laboratory breadboard results of a high-speed adaptive-optics system are presented. The wave-front sensor for the adaptive-optics system is based on a quadrature interferometer, which directly measures the turbulence-induced phase aberrations. The spatial light modulator used in the phase-conjugate engine was a microelectromechanical systems-based piston-only correction device with 1024 actuators. Laboratory experiments were conducted with this system utilizing Kolmogorov phase screens to simulate atmospheric phase distortions. The adaptive-optics system achieved correction speeds in excess of 800 Hz and Strehl ratios greater than 0.5 with the Kolmogorov phase screens.

High-resolution adaptive optics test bed for vision science

We discuss the design and implementation of a low-cost, high-resolution adaptive optics test-bed for vision research. It is well known that high-order aberrations in the human eye reduce optical resolution and limit visual acuity. However, the effects of aberration-free eyesight on vision are only now beginning to be studied using adaptive optics to sense and correct the aberrations in the eye. We are developing a high-resolution adaptive optics system for this purpose using a Hamamatsu Parallel Aligned Nematic Liquid Crystal Spatial Light Modulator. Phase-wrapping is used to extend the effective stroke of the device, and the wavefront sensing and wavefront correction are done at different wavelengths. Issues associated with these techniques will be discussed.

Adaptive compensation of atmospheric turbulence utilizing an interferometric wavefront sensor and a high-resolution MEMS-based spatial light modulator

Horizontal path correction of optical beam propagation presents a severe challenge to adaptive optics systems due to the short transverse coherence length and the high degree of scintillation incurred by propagation along these paths. The system presented operates with nearly monochromatic light. It does not require a global reconstruction of the phase, thereby eliminating issues with branch points and making its performance relatively unaffected by scintillation. The systems pixel count, 1024, and relatively high correction speed, in excess of 800 Hz, enable its use for correction of horizontal path beam propagation. We present results from laboratory and field tests of the system in which we have achieved Strehl ratios greater than 0.5.

High-resolution adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscope with dual deformable mirrors for large aberration correction

Scanning laser ophthalmoscopes with adaptive optics (AOSLO) have been shown previously to provide a noninvasive, cellular-scale view of the living human retina. However, the clinical utility of these systems has been limited by the available deformable mirror technology. In this paper, we demonstrate that the use of dual deformable mirrors can effectively compensate large aberrations in the human retina, making the AOSLO system a viable, non-invasive, high-resolution imaging tool for clinical diagnostics. We used a bimorph deformable mirror to correct low-order aberrations with relatively large amplitudes. The bimorph mirror is manufactured by Aoptix, Inc. with 37 elements and 18 &mgr;m stroke in a 10 mm aperture. We used a MEMS deformable mirror to correct high-order aberrations with lower amplitudes. The MEMS mirror is manufactured by Boston Micromachine, Inc with 144 elements and 1.5 &mgr;m stroke in a 3 mm aperture. We have achieved near diffraction-limited retina images using the dual deformable mirrors to correct large aberrations up to ±3D of defocus and ±3D of cylindrical aberrations with test subjects. This increases the range of spectacle corrections by the AO systems by a factor of 10, which is crucial for use in the clinical environment. This ability for large phase compensation can eliminate accurate refractive error fitting for the patients, which greatly improves the system ease of use and efficiency in the clinical environment.

Design and progress toward a multiconjugate adaptive optics system for distributed aberration correction

This article investigates the use of a multi-conjugate adaptive optics system to improve the field-of-view for the system. The emphasis of this research is to develop techniques to improve the performance of optical systems with applications to horizontal imaging. The design and wave optics simulations of the proposed system are given. Preliminary results from the multi-conjugate adaptive optics system are also presented. The experimental system utilizes a liquid-crystal spatial light modulator and an interferometric wave-front sensor for correction and sensing of the phase aberrations, respectively.