Fiber optic phased array and associated method for accommodating atmospheric perturbations with phase and amplitude control

摘要

A fiber optic phased array and control method are provided for controllably adjusting the phase and amplitude of the optical signals emitted by a plurality of fiber optic amplifiers to compensate for atmospheric turbulence. The fiber optic phased array also includes a sensor assembly for detecting: (i) the phase of the optical signals that are emitted by the fiber optic amplifiers, and (ii) both the phase and the amplitude of the optical signals that have been reflected by the target. The fiber optic phased array also includes phase modulators and a gain adjustment mechanism for altering the phase and the amplitude of the optical signals propagating along the fiber optic amplifiers to compensate for modifications in the phase and amplitude that will be introduced by atmospheric turbulence. Among other things, the amplitude control of the optical signals is not adversely effected by intensity nulls in the reflected wavefront.