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Abstract
A Shack-Hartmann sensor has been designed for testing the wave front of CO2 lasers. Fabrication of a lens array and a detector array with tight tolerances on position accuracy are essential steps. Parallel electronics allow for high-speed wave-front measurements with 1 kHz sampling frequency. The device has been used to investigate the behaviour of a high-power CO2 laser. Besides the expected thermal drifts of beam direction at the beginning of laser action, periodic changes of beam direction, have been detected. The Shack-Hartmann sensor seems the appropriate device for controlling adaptive optics in high-power laser applications.