Patent ID: 8132912

Claim:
An iris imaging system comprising an imaging subsystem, the imaging subsystem comprising: a camera for capturing images of irises with sufficient resolution for biometric identification; a light source for producing light to illuminate eyes; and a fine tracking system for steering the camera to eyes, based on an eye reflection of the light illuminating the eyes, the fine tracking system including: a deformable mirror for both steering the camera to the eyes and adjusting a wavefront of the eye reflected light, the deformable mirror including a circular mirror substrate attached by a flexible joint around which the mirror substrate can tilt to an annular mechanical drive element, the circular mirror substrate mounted on a circumferential mirror mount, the circular mirror substrate having a reflective front surface and a back surface, the circumferential mirror mount substantially preventing translation of the mirror substrate relative to the mirror mount but permitting the mirror substrate to tilt locally relative to the mirror mount, and the annular mechanical drive element applying an annular force to the back surface of the mirror substrate; a wavefront sensor for sensing the wavefront of the eye reflected light; and a controller coupled between the deformable mirror and the wavefront sensor, for adjusting the deformable mirror based on the sensed wavefront.