Piezoelectric deformable mirror for intra-cavity laser adaptive optics.

Abstract

This paper describes the development of a deformable mirror to be used in conjunction with diffractive optical elements inside a laser cavity. A prototype piezoelectric unimorph adaptive mirror was developed to correct for time dependent phase aberrations to the laser beam, such as those caused by thermal expansion of materials. The unimorph consists of a piezoelectric disc bonded to the back surface of a copper reflective mirror. The rear electrode of the piezoelectric ceramic disc is divided into segments so that a number of different control voltages can be applied to deform the mirror in a desired displacement distribution. The mirror is required to be able to deform in the shape of each of the lower order Zernike polynomials, which describe aberrations in optical systems. A numerical model of the device was used to determine a suitable electrode configuration. Finally, the device was constructed and the deformed shapes measured using a laser vibrometer.