We have designed and constructed a prototype adaptive mirror using a nematic liquid crystal as the optical phase modulating material. The mirror has 127 hexagonal elements (actuators) in a 12 mm diameter clear aperture. The liquid crystal is a dual-frequency type that can be driven both parallel to, and orthogonal to, the external driving field by changing the drive frequency. With the dual-frequency liquid crystal we have achieved 1 micron of optical phase delay with full-cycle switching times of 6 ms. The electronic driver was designed to interface with an IBM compatible PC.
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