Provided is a compact, high-speed deformable mirror for use with an adaptive optic. The mirror or wavefront correction device corrects and/or compensates for wavefront aberrations present in a wavefront received by the optics. The mirror includes a deformable membrane which may be made of a semiconductive, metallic or insulating material. Positioned in close proximity to a front surface of the membrane is a transparent conductor, which may be covered by a window having an anti-reflective coating. A plurality of electrostatic actuators is located in close proximity to a back surface of the membrane, the conductor and actuators separated by a gap of approximately 10 μm. In operation, a bias voltage is applied to the transparent conductor and an actuator voltage is applied to the plurality of actuators. The resultant voltage differential across the membrane defines the amount of membrane deformation, which in turn compensates for distortions in a subsequently reflected wavefront.
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