Smart Structures for Control of Optical Surfaces

The development of lightweight, large-aperture optics is of vital importance to the Department of Defense and the US Air Force for advancing remote sensing applications and improving current capabilities. Synthetic polymer optics offer weight and flexibility advantages over current generation glass mirrors, but require active control to maintain tight surface figure tolerances. This research explores the feasibility of using imbedded piezoelectric materials to control optical surfaces. Membrane-based and stiff piezo-controlled mirrors were constructed to develop and validate control techniques. Test results verified that surface control on the order of tens of wavelengths is possible using these systems.Air Force Inst of Tech Wright-Patterson AFB OH School of Engineering and Management is the author of 'Smart Structures for Control of Optical Surfaces', published 2002 under ISBN 9781423508434 and ISBN 1423508432.