Distributed Sensing and Shape Control of Piezoelectric Bimorph Mirrors

Meeting the long term needs of the remote sensing community requires the development of large aperture space-based optical systems to achieve dramatic improvements in resolution and sensitivity. It is possible that ultralarge apertures will be obtained using deployable thin film mirror technology, yet many technological barriers must be overcome to make this approach viable. This paper summarizes an initial research effort into the development of piezoelectric thin film mirrors that can be actively shaped using electric fields applied by an electron flux at selected locations. Recent progress is described in the key areas of mirror figure sensing methods, electron gun excitation, and shape control algorithm development.