Deformable mirror with magnetically receptive ferrous backing
AssigneeRaytheon Company
InventorsStephen T. Fasolino, Peter Chung, Alexander McCown, Brett A. Miller, Jesse Dearden
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A deformable mirror is provided that can include a mirror assembly having a reflective face sheet with a reflective surface on a front side of the reflective face sheet. The mirror assembly can also comprise one or more ferrous materials positioned within and making up or forming, in part, the mirror assembly. The deformable mirror can also include one or more electromagnets operable to generate a magnetic field that acts on the ferrous materials to deform the reflective face sheet.
Claims38
A deformable mirror, comprising:
- a mirror assembly comprising (i) a reflective face sheet having a reflective surface on a front side of the reflective face sheet and (ii) one or more ferrous materials selectively positioned within the mirror assembly, wherein the reflective face sheet has a non-uniform thickness between the front side of the reflective face sheet and a back side of the reflective face sheet opposite the front side;
- and
- one or more electromagnets configured to generate a magnetic field that acts on the one or more ferrous materials to deform the reflective face sheet.
A deformable mirror system, comprising:
- a deformable mirror comprising:
- a mirror assembly comprising (i) a reflective face sheet having a reflective surface on a front side of the reflective face sheet and (ii) one or more ferrous materials selectively positioned within the mirror assembly, wherein the reflective face sheet has a non-uniform thickness between the front side of the reflective face sheet and a back side of the reflective face sheet opposite the front side;
- and
- one or more electromagnets configured to generate a magnetic field that acts on the one or more ferrous materials to deform the reflective face sheet;
- and
- a control system operably coupled to the one or more electromagnets and configured to control the magnetic field to deform the reflective face sheet.
A method for facilitating active shape control of a mirror, comprising:
- obtaining a mirror assembly comprising a reflective face sheet having a reflective surface on a front side of the reflective face sheet, wherein the reflective face sheet has a non-uniform thickness between the front side of the reflective face sheet and a back side of the reflective face sheet opposite the front side;
- selectively positioning one or more ferrous materials within at least a portion of the mirror assembly;
- and
- disposing one or more electromagnets about the mirror assembly, the one or more electromagnets configured to generate a magnetic field that acts on the one or more ferrous materials to deform the reflective face sheet.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.