Adaptive mirror effects on the performance of annular resonators

Computer studies have shown that azimuthal static mirror misfigures as small as lambda/20 can lead to severe degradation in the far field on axis intensity for resonators with an annular gain region. This poor far-field pattern can, however, be dramatically improved by the use of adaptive elements within the resonator. A rear cone in the resonator had a static misfigure applied to it, and an adaptive ring axicon located in the front of the resonator was deformed in such a way as to compensate for the misfigure of the rear element of the resonator.