Research

Professor Lei Huang innovatively developed the active freeform optical elements technology, including irradiance distribution controlling theories and active freeform optical elements design and metrology methods. He innovatively combined the adaptive optics technology with freeform optics design theories, which will enormously expand the construction approaches of freeform surface and greatly improve the efficiency of laser beam shaping. He introduced the concept of woofer-tweeter DM into irradiance profiles controlling, by using use a low-bandwidth, high-stroke Woofer DM to approximate the required freeform reflective surface and a high-bandwidth Tweeter DM to compensate the residual error. These results are important for laser beam shaping in high power laser system. He has developed in collaboration with Professor Daewook Kim’s group (the University of Arizona) in the research of adaptive interferometric null testing for freeform optics, which remarkably overcomes the dynamic range limitations of conventional null testing approaches during unknown freeform optics metrology or optics manufacturing processes that require not-yet-completed surface measurements to effectively guide the next fabrication process.

 (1) Focal-plane irradiance tailoring using woofer-tweeter DM

(2) Adaptive interferometric null testing for unknown freeform optics metrology

(3) Online distortion metrology and experiment results