Abstract

We have found a simple and easy technique that, on the basis of detailed computer simulation, appears to offer the possibility of near-diffraction-limited imaging with even relatively poor adaptive-optics systems. The time-averaged optical transfer functions of systems with wavefront sampling as coarse as three times the Fried coherence radius remain significant out to spatial frequencies near the classical diffraction limit, which allows for the possibility of image recovery by direct deconvolution. Using a computer simulation incorporating many of the relevant physical effects, we have tested the technique, and it seems to work surprisingly well. Further analysis is required to better map its practical obstacles and limitations, and we intend to test the technique against real data in the near future.

© 1990 Optical Society of America