High power bimorph wave-front correction mirror

A method of manufacturing a bimorph wave-front correction mirror, the method comprising:

• providing a mirror having a first surface and a second surface, wherein the first and second surfaces exhibit wave-front uniformity better than a selected wave-front criteria for light at a selected wavelength;
• forming a poled annular piezoelectric ceramic disk, wherein the disk has a first side and a second side, an aperture substantially in a center portion of the disk, one or more pairs of electrodes on substantially opposing sides of the disk, and an outer lateral dimension greater than an outer lateral dimension of the mirror;
• stress cycling the disk by applying a periodic bipolar voltage to the electrode pairs;
• bonding the second surface of the mirror to the first side of the disk with adhesive to achieve a substantially zero stress bond to maintain the wave-front quality of the mirror after assembly of the mirror/disk combination;
• connecting wires to substantially opposing conductive electrode pairs on the disk adapted to apply a voltage to enable piezoelectrically induced strain to deform the bonded mirror by a selected amount;
• and
• mounting the second side of the disk to a mounting base using a plurality of stand-offs adapted to adhere the disk to the mounting base.

A method of correcting a wave-front of a laser beam, the method comprises:

• receiving sensor information at a control filter, wherein the sensor information corresponds to a wave-front pattern of a laser beam of a laser;
• comparing the received sensor information to a desired wave-front pattern corresponding to a beam of selected wave-front characteristics;
• generating voltage signals in response to the comparing;
• applying the voltage signals to a plurality of conductive electrodes on substantially opposing sides of a piezoelectric ceramic disk;
• and
• deforming a mirror bonded to the disk in response to the voltage signals until the received sensor information corresponds to the desired wave-front pattern.