Coherence reconstruction apparatus for interferometric measurement of atmospheric turbulence

• Main Authors: DANIEL GOLUBCHIK, DAVID SHWA, STEVE ROGERS
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; Hebrew
• Published: 01.09.2024
• Subjects: ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION ORRERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; MEASURING; PHYSICS; RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; TESTING

A coherence reconstruction apparatus generates measurements of atmospheric turbulence from light reflected by a target. The apparatus is in communication with a coherent beam combining (CBC) system which illuminates a target with one or more partially coherent beams from a seed laser. The apparatus includes a variable delay module and a phase shift interferometer (PSI). The delay module uses a measurement of target time-of-flight to form a coherent delayed reference signal from the CBC seed reference laser. The delay module may incorporate an electromagnetically induced transparency medium and/or an electro-optical modulator. The PSI combines the delayed reference optical signal with a target-reflected optical signal to form an interference pattern and to determine one or more turbulence phase correction measurements. The apparatus may include a controller for generating feedback and dynamic tuning signals.