Active wavefront shaping and analysis

Active and adaptive optics are becoming more important in the field of beam shaping and wave front analysis. One of the main reasons for the progress and recent activities in active optics is the availability of new active elements like deformable mirrors, micro mirrors and liquid crystals. The application of spatial light modulators for wave front adaption, shaping and sensing will be discussed. An important application is a flexible testing procedure for testing aspheric surfaces using adaptive optics such as deformable mirrors liquid crystals and micro mirrors.