Optical imaging systems that operate through atmospheric pathways often suffer from image degradation, mainly caused by the distortion of light waves due to turbulence in the atmosphere. Adaptive optics technology can be used to correct the image dist...
Optical imaging systems that operate through atmospheric pathways often suffer from image degradation, mainly caused by the distortion of light waves due to turbulence in the atmosphere. Adaptive optics technology can be used to correct the image distortion caused by atmospheric disturbances. However, there are challenges in conducting experiments with strong atmospheric conditions. An optical phase plate (OPP) is a device that can simulate real atmospheric conditions in a lab setting. We suggest a novel two-step process to fabricate an OPP capable of simulating the effects of atmospheric turbulence. The proposed fabrication method simplifies the process by eliminating additional activities such as phase-screen design and phase simulation. This enables an efficient and economical fabrication of the OPP. We conducted our analysis using the statistical fluctuations of the refractive index and applied modal expansion using Kolmogorov’s theory. The experiment aims to fabricate an OPP with parametersD/r 0 ≈ 30 and r 0 ≈ 5 cm. The objective is defined with the strong atmospheric conditions. Finally, wehave fabricated an OPP that satisfied the desired objectives. The OPP closely simulate turbulence to real atmospheric conditions.