Digital holographic interferometry in the long-wave infrared domain has been developed by combining a CO(2) laser and a microbolometer array. The long wavelength allows large deformation measurements, which are of interest in the case of large space reflectors undergoing thermal changes when in orbit. We review holography at such wavelengths and present some specific aspects related to this spectral range on our measurements. For the design of our digital holographic interferometer, we studied the possibility of illuminating specular objects by a reflective diffuser. We discuss the development of the interferometer and the results obtained on a representative space reflector, first in the laboratory and then during vacuum cryogenic test.
Long-wave infrared digital holographic interferometry with CO 2 laser and microbolometer arrays has been developed for testing the large deformations of space reflectors. The setup considered is a Mach-Zehnder, associated to the digital holography reconstruction of the wavefront in the inline configuration with phase shifting. Two possibilities exist for illuminating the tested reflector: either with a point source (similarly to classical interferometry) or an extended source (with a diffuser). This paper presents the development of a modular setup which allows comparing both in the case of a parabolic mirror.
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