Abstract: An actuator for continuously aligning the primary mirror relative to the scraper the other resonator mirrors and the feedback mirror in a high power laser resonator, comprised of extended portions of the resonators primary mirror, feedback mirror and scraper mirror for a low power laser beam to travel parallel to but offset from the high power laser beam for aligning the mirrors. The low power laser beam is used to measure the position of the mirrors in the resonator. The low power beam is split into a beam which is incident on a quadrant cell for measuring the tip and tilt of the feedback mirror relative to the primary mirror and a beam which measures the translation of the feedback mirror relative to the primary mirror. A controller receives the data form the quadrant cells and sends signals to actuators on one mirror to move it relative to the other thus keeping the mirrors in constant alignment.

Abstract: An optical correction system for correcting thermally-induced wavefront distortions in an optical signal emanating from a crystal or other form of optical device/system. An optical output signal from the thermally sensitive optical device/system is fed to a beamsplitter, which produces a reflected optical signal and a refracted optical signal containing thermally-induced distortion. The refracted signal is fed to a wavefront distortion sensor which produces an output signal representative of the thermally-induced distortion. The output of the wavefront distortion sensor is fed to a computational device which determines the necessary degree of error correction to compensate for the thermally-induced optical distortion. A stress application device receives the output of the computational device and generates an electrical signal in accordance therewith which is then used to control a force applicator in physical contact with the crystal.