<title>Characterization of three advanced deformable mirrors</title>

Abstract

Three advanced Deformable Mirrors were tested as part of the Air Force Research Laboratory's athptive optics program. Two of these mirrors were purchased by the Air Force Research Laboratory for use at the Starfire Optical Range (SOR). One of these, a 941-channel mirror, made by Xinetics under subcontract to Hughes Danbury Optical Systems, is currently in use in the adaptive optics system of the SOR 3.5 m telescope. The other, a 577-channel mirror, was refurbished by ITEK from the Mid-Scale Deformable Mirror. The third mirror, with 349 actuators, was made by Xinetics as a demonsiration of a new actuator bonding technology. For each mirror, the uniformity of the actuator gain was measured using phase-modulating interferometry. These measurements were used to flatten the mirrors and to apply known Zernike modes. Results presented will include actuator performance statistics and mirror figure accuracy for various commanded figures.

Adaptive optics in astronomy

“…Bottom-left: Boston Micromachines 32 × 32 actuator, 300 μm pitch MEMS deformable mirror [8]. Centre: Rear view of the Xinetics 349 actuator, 150 mm diameter deformable mirror used in the Keck AO systems [9]. Right: The LBT 672 actuator, 0.91 m diameter adaptive secondary mirror (courtesy Microgate, ADS) [10].…”

Design of novel deformable mirror with large displacement

“…The separate DM is rarely used nowadays due to the large fitting error caused by independently moving mirrors. The continuous DM composed of a continuous elastic film is widely used in the stabilized zoom system due to the high light utility rate of luminous energy, small fitting error, and high reliability 24–26 . The shape of the DM could be modified by different actuating mechanisms, such as piezoelectric, 27–29 electrostatic, 30–32 or electromagnetic, 33–35 among which the piezoelectrically‐actuated DM can achieve large displacement, good linear effect, fast response, and high precision, and can correct low‐order and high‐order deformation 36,37 .…”

Global actuator-distribution algorithm realized by a deformable mirror group for high precision aberration correction in laser optics system

“…For some reasons (transmission and thermal effects), wavefront distortion always appears and, as a result, limits its beam quality, especially in high power laser. In order to compensate wavefront aberration and achieve better beam quality, adaptive optics [1], consisting of a deformable mirror (DM) [2] and a wavefront sensor [3], could be considered to correct the output wavefront of laser.…”