AN ELECTRO-OPTIC MODULATOR FOR REMOTE LASER BEAM WAVEFRONT CORRECTION AND MICRO-POSITIONING IN SPACE

THE USE OF LASER SYSTEMS FOR SPACE-BASED COMMUNICATION APPLICATIONS IS EXPECTED TO BE WIDELY IMPLEMENTED IN FUTURE SPACECRAFT. THIS PROPOSAL ADDRESSES THE CRITICAL TECHNOLOGICAL ISSUES OF POINTING, CORRECTING AND FOCUSING A LASER BEAM FOR SATELLITE OPTICAL COMMUNICATION UNDER A DYNAMIC OPERATING ENVIRONMENT AND STRINGENT MISSION REQUIREMENTS. THE FINE POINTING AND JITTER CONTROL REQUIREMENTS OF THESE ADVANCED COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS PRESENTS A SERIOUS CHALLENGE TO CONTROL ENGINEERS IN THE AREAS OF ACQUISITION, TRACKING AND POINTING. OPTRON SYSTEMSPROPOSES TO DEVELOP AN ADAPTIVE OPTICAL, COMPUTER-CONTROLLEDELECTRO-OPTIC PHASE MODULATOR WHICH WILL RESULT IN AN ACTIVE OPTICAL COMPONENT WITH NO MOVING PARTS THAT IS CAPABLE OF MICRORADIAN POINTING ACCURACY. UNDER SOFTWARE CONTROL THIS ELECTRO-OPTICAL DEVICE CAN BE USED TO DEFLECT, FOCUS, COLLIMATE, RESHAPE OR OTHERWISE MODULATE A COHERENT BEAM OF LIGHT. WITH THE ADDITION OF A WAVEFRONT SENSOR AND A FEEDBACK PATH THE MODULATOR IS READILY INCORPORATED INTO CLOSED-LOOP SYSTEMS FOR SUCH PURPOSES AS AUTOMATIC WAVEFRONT CORRECTION, AUTOMATIC FOCUSING AND TARGET TRACKING. PHASE I OBJECTIVES INCLUDE CONSTRUCTION AND EVALUATION OF A PROTOTYPE ELECTRO-OPTIC MODULATOR. PHASE II WILL ADDRESS SPECIFIC ISSUES OF OPTIMIZATION.