Monolithic piezoelectric mirror for wavefront correction

Abstract

Experimental and theoretical analysis show that a spatially varying potential applied to one surface of a thick block of piezoelectric material will induce a piezoelectric deformation of that surface proportional to the potential at each point of the surface. There is essentially no dispersion in the piezoelectric response as a function of the spatial frequency of the applied potential even at high resolutions. This principle has been used to construct an electrically addressed monolithic piezoelectric mirror (MPM) which has high accuracy, stability, and speed of response. The MPM has been used successfully in a demonstration of real‐time correction of image phase distortions caused by a turbulent atmosphere.