Industrial Assessment on Deformable Mirrors (Without Proprietary Information)

The deformable mirror subtier task was part of the larger industrial study that the Institute for Defense Analyses IDA conducted during FY 1997-1998. The objective of the study was to determine if there were more potential deformable mirror suppliers than the one company that was identified and to identify possible alternatives to the present state of the art for deformable mirrors. Possible component suppliers who could produce actuators or the flexible optical surfaces for the deformable mirrors were also assessed. Because of time constraints, the scope of the task was limited to unclassified systems and U.S. deformable mirror producers. The overall assessment identified three deformable mirror producers Xinetics, Thermotrex, and Raytheon. Several deformable mirror component suppliers were also determined in this study. New technologies including Microelectromechanical Systems MEMS mirrors and magnetostrictive materials for actuators showed potential in replacing or augmenting the current deformable mirror technology. It was also determined that vertical integration was not an issue in the deformable mirror area because of the current number of deformable mirror suppliers and the component industries available. However, it was concluded that the deformable mirror market was thin and could change rapidly. The final recommendation was that the deformable mirror area be reexamined as the Department of Defense DoD and Department of Energy DOE funding environment, the demand for deformable mirrors, and manufacturing capability of the deformable mirror suppliers change.