If you can make an adaptive optics system with a deformable mirror with smaller actuator spacing, you can conceivably do better imaging. That's basically what we're doing. One of the products we're developing involves reducing the actuator spacing from the normal 7 mm that was used for astronomy to something much less than one millimeter. What's nice about the medical community is that the instruments have very high value added. We can enhance the performance of those instruments using adaptive optics, at a cost that is not prohibitive.
Cost is the real key to transferring technology into the commercial sector.
Another area where the potential exists for deformable mirrors is in the area of lithography, whether it's x-ray, UV, or optical. As one goes to smaller and smaller linewidths in the semiconductor industry, stability becomes even more important. An AO system, not as complex as for astronomy, will have some type of sensor and some type of deformable mirror to do active compensation in the lithography systems. Right now, the basic limit is in the 0.25-0.5 micron range for optical lithography. The technology is trying to approach the 0.1 micron range and, in the case of x-rays, hopefully go below that.