The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 12, 2007
Filed:
Dec. 20, 2004
Daniel Headley, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Marc Ramsey, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Jens Schwarz, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Daniel Headley, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Marc Ramsey, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Jens Schwarz, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Sandia Corporation, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Abstract
A variable focal length deformable mirror has an inner ring and an outer ring that simply support and push axially on opposite sides of a mirror plate. The resulting variable clamping force deforms the mirror plate to provide a parabolic mirror shape. The rings are parallel planar sections of a single paraboloid and can provide an on-axis focus, if the rings are circular, or an off-axis focus, if the rings are elliptical. The focal length of the deformable mirror can be varied by changing the variable clamping force. The deformable mirror can generally be used in any application requiring the focusing or defocusing of light, including with both coherent and incoherent light sources.