Adaptive Optics on a Budget

Photonics : A simple optical clamp that uses a single mirror functions as a sort of “poor man’s” adaptive optics device.Adaptive optics, a system known for its computer control of subdivided, individually angled mirrors, is an efficient but expensive way to correct distortions in laser beams. The mirrors automatically adjust until an undistorted beam is obtained in a way formerly thought unachievable by a single large mirror.