A new approach to adaptive optics for materials processing

Traditional adaptive optics suffer from drawbacks related to large-scale motion, slow, and inconvenient for many industrial applications where high reliability and speed are needed. These limitations and others can be overcome the the TAG lens. The TAG lens is a piezoelectrically driven device that uses sound waves to modulate the wavefront of an incident light beam. The lens work by creating a standing acoustic wave in the refractive liquid. The density variations in the standing wave result in refractive index variations that focus the light passing through the lens. The only required elements are a piezoelectric transducer, a filling fluid, two glass windows and a chassis, and the only component with associated cost is the piezoelectric transducer. The cost and ease of construction of a TAG lens are great advantages.