초록 ▼

An electrostatically deformable single crystal mirror comprising a highly conducting thick substrate layer and a highly conducting thin membrane layer separated from the thick layer by an insulator is disclosed. The center of the insulating layer is etched to form a cavity. The outer surface of the

An electrostatically deformable single crystal mirror comprising a highly conducting thick substrate layer and a highly conducting thin membrane layer separated from the thick layer by an insulator is disclosed. The center of the insulating layer is etched to form a cavity. The outer surface of the membrane layer is polished and coated with a dielectric to form a mirror. A voltage is applied between the membrane and the substrate to cause the membrane to deform. Various embodiments of the invention provide for planar translation of the mirror and for convex/concave deformation of the mirror. Incorporation of a deformation sensor in the deformable mirror allows for deformation measurement. In a particular embodiment of the invention, the deformable mirror is used in a tunable etalon for use in an optical filter.

대표청구항 ▼

A resonant cavity for a laser formed by two opposing mirrors one of which is an electrostatically deformable single crystal dielectrically coated mirror comprising: a thick substrate; an insulating layer on said thick substrate, from which a central region has been removed; a thin substrate on said

A resonant cavity for a laser formed by two opposing mirrors one of which is an electrostatically deformable single crystal dielectrically coated mirror comprising: a thick substrate; an insulating layer on said thick substrate, from which a central region has been removed; a thin substrate on said insulating layer having at least one polished surface on a side opposite said insulating layer,; a mirror layer on said polished surface of said thin substrate which thin substrate is substantially thicker than 10 microns and is sufficiently thick to support said mirror layer but thin enough to deform upon application of a potential between said thin and thick substrates; and at least one electrical contact adapted to provide a potential between said thick substrate and said thin substrate to cause said thin substrate to deform and thereby change the resonance of the cavity to tune the laser frequency.