MEMS Deformable Mirrors for Space-Based High-Contrast Imaging

Morgan, Rachel; Douglas, Ewan S.; Allan, Gregory; Bierden, Paul; Chakrabarti, Supriya; Cook, Timothy A.; Egan, Mark; Fürész, Gábor; Gubner, Jennifer; Groff, Tyler D.; Haughwout, Christian; Holden, Bobby; Mendillo, Christopher B.; Ouellet, Mireille; Pereira, Paula do Vale; Stein, Abigail; Thibault, Simon; Wu, Xingtao; Xin, Yeyuan; Cahoy, Kerri

doi:10.3390/mi10060366

Cited by 27 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 100 publications

(135 reference statements)

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“…The science telescope on ASTERIA operates at 20 Hz, reading out 50-ms exposures for science and pointing control, limiting the detectable stellar magnitude to m V < 7 since dimmer stars do not flip the detector's first analog-to-digital bit (Knapp et al, 2020a) in an exposure. Similarly, the CLICK free-space laser communications CubeSats (Cahoy et al, 2019), due for launch in 2021, will use microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)-based steering mirrors to achieve fine pointing, while the DeMi mission launched in 2020 is designed to use a MEMS deformable mirror for fine wavefront steering (Morgan et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Practical Limits on Nanosatellite Telescope Pointing: The Impact of Disturbances and Photon Noise

Douglas¹,

Tracy

Manchester

2021

Front. Astron. Space Sci.

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Accurate and stable spacecraft pointing is a requirement of many astronomical observations. Pointing particularly challenges nanosatellites because of an unfavorable surface area–to-mass ratio and a proportionally large volume required for even the smallest attitude control systems. This work explores the limitations on astrophysical attitude knowledge and control in a regime unrestricted by actuator precision or actuator-induced disturbances such as jitter. The external disturbances on an archetypal 6U CubeSat are modeled, and the limiting sensing knowledge is calculated from the available stellar flux and grasp of a telescope within the available volume. These inputs are integrated using a model-predictive control scheme. For a simple test case at 1 Hz, with an 85-mm telescope and a single 11th magnitude star, the achievable body pointing is predicted to be 0.39 arcseconds. For a more general limit, integrating available star light, the achievable attitude sensing is approximately 1 milliarcsecond, which leads to a predicted body pointing accuracy of 20 milliarcseconds after application of the control model. These results show significant room for attitude sensing and control systems to improve before astrophysical and environmental limits are reached.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Practical Limits on Nanosatellite Telescope Pointing: The Impact of Disturbances and Photon Noise

Douglas¹,

Tracy

Manchester

2021

Front. Astron. Space Sci.

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“…CDEEP is proposed to be a 34.9 cm off-axis monolithic silicon carbide (SiC) telescope integrated with the coronagraph optical bench, as seen in Figure 3. CDEEP leverages the heritage of the MEMS Deformable Mirror Demonstration Mission (DeMI), 15,16 the PICTURE series balloon 17 and sounding rocket missions, [18][19][20] EXCEDE laboratory testing, 21,22 and a wealth of theoretical and laboratory work on VVC technology. [23][24][25][26][27] The unobscured off-axis design eliminates diffraction effects from a conventional secondary obscuration and support structure, significantly easing the challenge of high-contrast imaging.…”

Section: Telescope and Instrument Payloadmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design of the vacuum high contrast imaging testbed for CDEEP, the Coronagraphic Debris and Exoplanet Exploring Pioneer

Maier

Douglas²,

Kim

et al. 2020

Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2020: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave

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The Coronagraphic Debris Exoplanet Exploring Payload (CDEEP) is a Small-Sat mission concept for high contrast imaging of circumstellar disks. CDEEP is designed to observe disks in scattered light at visible wavelengths at a raw contrast level of 10 −7 per resolution element (10 −8 with post processing). This exceptional sensitivity will allow the imaging of transport dominated debris disks, quantifying the albedo, composition, and morphology of these low-surface brightness disks. CDEEP combines an off-axis telescope, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) deformable mirror, and a vector vortex coronagraph (VVC). This system will require rigorous testing and characterization in a space environment. We report on the CDEEP mission concept, and the status of the vacuum-compatible CDEEP prototype testbed currently under development at the University of Arizona, including design development and the results of simulations to estimate performance.

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“…MEMS DMs are a promising technology option for adaptive optics in space due to their small actuator pitch (∼300 to 400 μm), highactuator density, large stroke, small form factor, and low power draw. [21][22][23] High-actuator density DMs allow for high-spatial resolution wavefront control with a smaller optical system, which is desirable for volume-constrained space applications. MEMS DMs have been proposed and flown in the near-space environment on sounding rocket 24 and high-altitude balloon missions, 25,26 as summarized by Morgan et al 23 Other types of DM technology have been investigated for space applications, including DMs based on lead magnesium niobate (PMN) piezoelectric ceramics and voice-coil actuation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[21][22][23] High-actuator density DMs allow for high-spatial resolution wavefront control with a smaller optical system, which is desirable for volume-constrained space applications. MEMS DMs have been proposed and flown in the near-space environment on sounding rocket 24 and high-altitude balloon missions, 25,26 as summarized by Morgan et al 23 Other types of DM technology have been investigated for space applications, including DMs based on lead magnesium niobate (PMN) piezoelectric ceramics and voice-coil actuation. 27 The DeMi mission chose to demonstrate a MEMS DM due to the small actuator size, which allowed for a high-actuator count mirror to be demonstrated on a CubeSat payload.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optical calibration and first light for the deformable mirror demonstration mission CubeSat (DeMi)

Morgan

Douglas

Allan

et al. 2021

J. Astron. Telesc. Instrum. Syst.

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Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) deformable mirrors (DMs) can provide high-precision wavefront control with a small form-factor, low power device. This makes them a key technology option for future space telescopes requiring adaptive optics for high-contrast imaging of exoplanets with a coronagraph instrument. The Deformable Mirror Demonstration Mission (DeMi) CubeSat payload is a miniature space telescope designed to demonstrate MEMS DM technology in space for the first time. The DeMi payload contains a 50-mm primary mirror, an internal calibration laser source, a 140-actuator MEMS DM from Boston Micromachines Corporation, an image plane wavefront sensor, and a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor (SHWFS). The key DeMi payload requirements are to measure individual actuator wavefront displacement contributions to a precision of 12 nm and correct both static and dynamic wavefront errors in space to less than 100-nm RMS error. The DeMi mission will raise the technology readiness level of MEMS DM technology from a five to at least a seven for future space telescope applications. We summarize the DeMi optical payload design, calibration, optical diffraction model, alignment, integration, environmental testing, and preliminary data from in-space operations. Ground testing data show that the DeMi SHWFS can measure individual actuator deflections on the MEMS DM to within 10 nm of interferometric calibration measurements and can meet the 12-nm precision mission requirement for actuator deflection voltages between 0 and 120 V. Payload data from throughout environmental testing show that the MEMS DM and DeMi payload survived environmental testing and provides a valuable baseline to compare with space data. Initial data from space operations show the MEMS DM actuating in space with a median agreement between individual actuator measurements from space and equivalent ground testing data of 12 nm. © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

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MEMS Deformable Mirrors for Space-Based High-Contrast Imaging

Cited by 27 publications

References 100 publications

Practical Limits on Nanosatellite Telescope Pointing: The Impact of Disturbances and Photon Noise

Practical Limits on Nanosatellite Telescope Pointing: The Impact of Disturbances and Photon Noise

Design of the vacuum high contrast imaging testbed for CDEEP, the Coronagraphic Debris and Exoplanet Exploring Pioneer

Optical calibration and first light for the deformable mirror demonstration mission CubeSat (DeMi)

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