Demonstration of closed-loop adaptive optics with a point-diffraction interferometer in strong scintillation with optical vortices.

A laboratory demonstration of an adaptive optics system using a point-diffraction interferometer and a continuous MEMs mirror is presented. The dynamic performance of the system was investigated experimentally using a holographic optical aberration generator. The system was tested both in conditions corresponding to weak phase only aberrations and for horizontal propagation through uniform turbulence giving scintillation and optical vortices. The system was shown to work well in weak turbulence and gave correction for the strong turbulence regime up to the highest scintillation strength tested, sigma2/R=3.3.