Progress report on the USAF research laboratory liquid crystal AO program.

In this paper we present a status report of our liquid crystal (LC) adaptive optics program. Liquid crystal have been proposed to be used for adaptive optics components by several authors. We are actively persuing a two prong approach, on one side we have built a closed loop test bed based on a 127 element nematic LC device; on the other side we are actively involved in research on the ferroelectric side of the LC devices. In this paper we present preliminary results from our testeb. The essential elements of this testbed are a Shack-Hartmann based wavefront sensor with an analog reconstructor, and the 127 nematic elements from Meadowlark Optics. Some of the basic experimental parameters will be reviewed, and results will be discussed. Furthermore we will present the status of our activity in the field of ferroelectric LC. Several prototypes are under testing to establish their capabilities as AO components.