Methods for the characterization of deformable membrane mirrors

We demonstrate two methods for the characterization of deformable membrane mirrors and the training of adaptive optics systems that employ these mirrors. Neither method employs a wave-front sensor. In one case, aberrations produced by a wave-front generator are corrected by the deformable mirror by use of a rapidly converging iterative algorithm based on orthogonal deformation modes of the mirror. In the other case, a simple interferometer is used with ftinge analysis and phase-unwrapping algorithms. We discuss how the choice of singular values can be used to control the pseudoinversion of the control matrix. (c) 2005 Optical Society of America.