The global market for Adaptive Optics is projected to reach US$3.2 billion by 2025, driven by expanding applications in telecommunications, military & defense, medical, and space exploration. Growing use of laser systems be it for communications, laser processing, laser weapons or laser medical equipment, is pushing up the importance of adaptive optics (AO) which is defined as a technology to reduce wavefront distortions. AO rapidly adjusts the focus of a high power laser beam to ensure accurate targeting of the beam. AO measures wavefront distortions and corrects the errors with the help of deformable mirrors and/or liquid crystal arrays. Wavefront distortion is a phenomenon that impacts the performance and stability of high power optical/laser systems. The distortion degrades the propagation of the light beam.
In the military and defense sector, commercialization of laser weapons is jumpstarting opportunities for AO. Airborne lasers especially operate in environments with heavy atmospheric distortion, making the use of AO indispensable. In this regard, tip/tilt adaptive optics (TT AOS) is gaining prominence for its superior wavefront correction capability as compared to a deformable mirror adaptive optics (DMAO) which has a limited correction range. Given the importance of AO in enhancing the reliability and performance laser weapon systems, the budgetary focus on acquiring next generation directed energy weapons by the defence ministry in virtually all countries worldwide, bodes well for market growth. Free-space optical communication (FSO) is also amplifying the value of AO. Also known as wireless optical communication, the technology is gaining increased prominence as a data transmission medium in telecommunications or computer networking applications. The technology is attractive for data communication in environments where physical connections or cables are difficult or impractical to install. While ophthalmology, microscopy, tissue imaging, directed energy weapons and FSO offer lucrative application opportunities for AO, astronomy and space exploration/communication will witness the fastest growth. Read More…
