A device for thermally actuating a deformable mirror includes a monolithic block that includes a mirror plate having a front face forming or configured to support a mirror, a base, and a one-dimensional array of thermally expandable actuators. The thermally expandable actuators mechanically connect a rear face of the mirror plate to the base such that shape, tilt, and/or location of the front face depend on temperature of the thermally expandable actuators. The mirror plate, base, and thermally expandable actuators are defined by slits that span between opposite-facing top and bottom surfaces of the monolithic block. The monolithic block may be made of a metal and may be manufactured at relatively low cost by wire eroding the slits in a metal block, using a wire that passes through the metal block between its top and bottom surfaces.

A method of additive manufacture is disclosed. The method may include creating, by a 3D printer contained within an enclosure, a part having a weight greater than or equal to 2,000 kilograms. A gas management system may maintain gaseous oxygen within the enclosure atmospheric level. In some embodiments, a wheeled vehicle may transport the part from inside the enclosure, through an airlock, as the airlock operates to buffer between a gaseous environment within the enclosure and a gaseous environment outside the enclosure, and to a location exterior to both the enclosure and the airlock.

A mirror, e.g. for a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus, includes an optical effective surface, a mirror substrate, a reflection layer stack for reflecting electromagnetic radiation incident on the optical effective surface, at least one first electrode arrangement, at least one second electrode arrangement, and an actuator layer system situated between the first and the second electrode arrangements. The actuator layer system is arranged between the mirror substrate and the reflection layer stack, has a piezoelectric layer, and reacts to an electrical voltage applied between the first and the second electrode arrangements with a deformation response in a direction perpendicular to the optical effective surface. The deformation response varies locally by at least 20% in PV value for a predefined electrical voltage that is spatially constant across the piezoelectric layer.

In one embodiment, a method of constructing a corrective phase mask for an optical element, includes propagating, for each of one or more wavelengths, a point source field from an object plane to a corrective mask plane to determine a source field and propagating, for each of the one or more wavelengths, the point source field from an image plane to the corrective mask plane to determine an image field. The method may further include determining, for each of the one or more wavelengths, a phase modulation field based on the source field and the image field; and determining a multi-wavelength phase modulation field based on combining the phase modulation field for each of the one or more wavelengths.

An amplified laser device is provided with one or more Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) Micro-Mirror Arrays (MMAs) having tip, tilt and piston capability positioned on either side of the optical amplifier to correct the profile of the beam to improve the gain performance of the optical amplifier or to compensate for atmospheric distortion while steering the amplified beam over a FOR. The MEMS MMAs may be positioned in front of, behind or on both sides of the amplifier. The MEMS MMAs can be configured to optimize the combined amplifier performance, static and time varying, and compensation for atmospheric distortion together or separately.

A method and an apparatus for collecting powder samples in real-time in powder bed fusion additive manufacturing may involves an ingester system for in-process collection and characterizations of powder samples. The collection may be performed periodically and uses the results of characterizations for adjustments in the powder bed fusion process. The ingester system of the present disclosure is capable of packaging powder samples collected in real-time into storage containers serving a multitude purposes of audit, process adjustments or actions.

An optical member driving mechanism is provided. The optical member driving mechanism includes a first movable portion, a fixed portion, a first driving assembly, and a plurality of second guiding members. The first movable portion is configured to connect an optical member. The optical member is used for adjusting a direction of a light from an incident direction to an outgoing direction. The first movable portion can move relative to the fixed portion. The first driving assembly is configured to drive the first movable portion to move relative to the fixed portion. The second guiding members include a first ball, a second ball, and a third ball. The first ball, the second ball, and the third ball are disposed in a plane that is perpendicular to the incident direction.

Various examples are provided related to amplified deformable mirrors (ADMs). In one embodiment, an ADM includes a deformable mirror and a flexible dielectric matrix deposited on a front side of the deformable mirror. A pathlength of a wavelength, λ.sub.0, of electromagnetic radiation passing through the dielectric matrix can be amplified by a distribution of dielectric particles embedded in the dielectric matrix.

An adaptive optical apparatus includes a first deformable mirror that includes a reflecting surface reflecting light propagated through an atmosphere, and a drive unit having a plurality of drive elements and changing an uneven shape of the reflecting surface, a second deformable mirror that includes a reflecting surface reflecting the light from the first deformable mirror and a drive unit having a plurality of drive elements and changing an uneven shape of the reflecting surface, a detector that detects light intensity of the light from the first deformable mirror and the second deformable mirror, and a controller that controls the drive unit of each of the first deformable mirror and the second deformable mirror. The controller is configured to execute a first update operation of controlling the drive unit of one deformable mirror based on a detected value by the detector.

The invention relates to a digital viewing device, comprising at least one camera module, consisting of an objective (2) having a focal length fobj and an image sensor (3) having an image diagonal d.sub.Sensor, and at least one electronic viewfinder, consisting of an eyepiece (9) having a focal length f.sub.Oku, an image processor (5), a power supply (7) and an electronic display (10) having an image diagonal y.sub.Display, characterised in that to correct distortion of the image generated on the display the image processor contains at least one computer program with distortion correction algorithms and the computer program can be switched on by means of an activating element (6).