Patent ID: 8118965

Claim:
A manufacturing method for variable shape mirrors, each of the variable shape mirrors comprising: a support substrate; a mirror substrate that is opposed to the support substrate and is supported by support pillars and has a reflection film on the surface; and piezoelectric elements that are sandwiched between the support substrate and the mirror substrate and are expanded or contracted when an electric field is applied so as to deform the mirror substrate and the reflection film, and the manufacturing method comprising: a bonding step for sandwiching the support pillars and the piezoelectric elements between the support substrate and the mirror substrate, and bonding at least the support substrate and the support pillar to each other, the support substrate and the piezoelectric element to each other, and the mirror substrate and the support pillars to each other, respectively; an elastic film forming step for forming a flat elastic film to cancel distortion which is generated in manufacturing step on the outer surface of the mirror substrate; and a reflection film forming step for forming the reflection film on the elastic film, wherein the elastic film forming step comprises a step of forming the elastic film out of resin by use of at least one of: a technique of dropping the resin onto the mirror substrate while the mirror substrate is rotating; a technique of pouring the resin into a mold having a flat recess shape, then placing thereon the mirror substrate from the outer surface, and then releasing the resin from the mold after the resin is cured; and a technique of coating the outer surface of the mirror substrate with the resin, then, with the surface of the resin heated up to a temperature above a glass transition point, pressing a flat plate onto the surface of the resin.