A study on the actuator array pattern of a deformable mirror for adaptive optics is performed. As a preliminary study on the aspects of aberrations, FEM and optical analyses for primary mirrors are performed. The actual shape of a deformable mirror surface, when it is pushed by an actuator, is called its influence function. Influence functions are very important in the design of a deformable mirror. Based on the research on influence functions, the best shapes of them are determined. The conventional DM has square, hexagonal or circular array of actuators. But this array need many actuators and is not effective. And it will cost a great deal. Using the constructed influence functions, a parametric study for an equispaced actuator array is performed. Then, to investigate a possibility of a nonequispaced actuator array, an algorithm that detects neighboring actuators and construct influence functions in the array is proposed. Using this algorithm, the optimization is performed to find out an optimal actuator array pattern.
