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We are developing a new class of deformable optic based on electrostatic actuation of nanolaminate foils. These foils are engineered at the atomic level to provide optimal opto-mechanical properties, including surface quality, strength and stiffness, for a wide range of deformable optics. We are combining these foils, developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), with commercial metal processing techniques to produce prototype deformable optics with aperture sizes up to 10 cm and actuator spacing from 1 mm to 1 cm and with a range of surface deformation designed to be as much as 10 microns. The existing capability for producing nanolaminate foils at LLNL, coupled with the commercial metal processing techniques being used, enable the potential production of these deformable optics with aperture sizes of over 1 m, and much larger deformable optics could potentially be produced by tiling multiple deformable segments. In addition, based on the fabrication processes being used, deformable nanolaminate optics could potentially be produced with areal densities of less than 1 kg per square m for applications in which lightweight deformable optics are desirable, and deformable nanolaminate optics could potentially be fabricated with intrinsically curved surfaces, including aspheric shapes. We will describe the basic principles of these devices, and we will present details of the design, fabrication and characterization of the prototype deformable nanolaminate optics that have been developed to date. We will also discuss the possibilities for future work on scaling these devices to larger sizes and developing both devices with lower areal densities and devices with curved surfaces.
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