Agile Textured Precision High Force Actuators for Ultra High Bandwidth Ultra High Authority DMs

This Phase II program intends to develop high strain, low volume and low mass cofired deformable mirror actuators for laser communications systems to realize longer path lengths, beam delivery systems to deliver the required power densities at longer path lengths and the reconnaissance systems to achieve diffraction limited performance from space platforms. The maturity of a Nano-Textured Single Crystal (NANO-TSC) composition would lead to a new line of cofired actuators for high bandwidth, high authority applications that can be driven with lower power electronics. An actuator merit figure based on Phase I results of 3x reduced capacitance, 1.33x increase in stroke, greater temperature stability and cost shows that the NANO-TSC cofired actuator would be 2.67 compared to the standard Xinetics DM actuator of 0.38. The NANO-TSC material exhibits a high fraction of single crystal properties, with high compositional uniformity, enhanced mechanical toughness. The proposed NANO-TSC actuator development for shape control of adaptive optic mirrors in directed energy applications will provide a higher gain *bandwidth* at high spatial frequencies to a host of optical communities who have a direct and current need for such a device.