AFRL team wins award

  • Published
  • By Jeanne Dailey
  • AFRL Directed Energy Directorate
Kirtland Air Force Base, NM --  The Air Force Research Laboratory Directed Energy Directorate's Atmospheric Simulation and Adaptive-optics Laboratory Testbed research team was recently chosen as an Air Force Office of Scientific Research Star Team for 2011-13. This is a coveted and highly competitive selection from among many basic research teams within AFRL -- only those teams in the top 10 percent are considered.

"Since all of our AFOSR-funded activities are at the forefront of science, this award truly calls out teams that have consistently proven themselves to be world-class contributors to the Air Force and to the scientific community," said Dr. Thomas P. Russell, AFOSR director.

Distinguished scientist Dr. Darryl J. Sanchez leads the Directed Energy Star Team. He and his dedicated and creative staff members, Dr. Denis W. Oesch, Dr. Thomas C. Farrell, Patrick R. Kelly and Julie C. Smith, were chosen as a Star Team for their continued study and discovery of ways to propagate and receive optical information through turbulent atmospheres.

The ASALT team works at the Starfire Optical Range on Kirtland Air Force Base. It invents, develops and tests advanced devices for use in directed-energy systems, in an advanced laboratory using state-of-the art equipment to conduct experiments with light. Their research focuses on correcting the distorting effect that the atmosphere has on light. This effect is the same phenomena that causes the stars to twinkle at night, and overcoming it is critical for directed-energy systems.

The ASALT team measures the distortions and, with innovative devices and techniques, compensates for its effects. Recognized as leaders in the field of adaptive optics, the team members often travel to international conferences to present their technological breakthrough results to fellow researchers.
Researchers at the AFRL's Directed Energy Directorate develop, integrate and transition technology involving high-energy lasers, high-power microwaves, millimeter waves, beam control and advanced optical systems.