Patterson Keith, Pellegrino Sergio
Graduate Aerospace Laboratories, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA.
Appl Opt. 2013 Aug 1;52(22):5327-41. doi: 10.1364/AO.52.005327.
This paper presents a concept for ultralightweight deformable mirrors, based on a thin substrate of optical surface quality, coated with continuous active layers that provide separate modes of actuation at different length scales. This concept eliminates any kind of stiff backing structure for the mirror surface and exploits microfabrication technologies to provide tight integration of the active materials into the mirror structure, to avoid actuator print-through effects. Proof-of-concept, 10 cm diameter mirrors with an areal density of 0.6 kg/m² have been designed, built, and tested to measure their shape-correction performance and verify the finite-element models used for design. The low-cost manufacturing scheme involves low-temperature processing steps (below 140°C) to minimize residual stresses, does not require precision photolithography, and is therefore scalable to larger diameters depending on application requirements.
本文提出了一种超轻型可变形镜的概念，该镜基于具有光学表面质量的薄基板，涂覆有连续的有源层，这些有源层在不同长度尺度上提供单独的驱动模式。这一概念消除了镜表面的任何类型的刚性支撑结构，并利用微制造技术将有源材料紧密集成到镜结构中，以避免致动器透印效应。已经设计、制造并测试了概念验证的直径为10 cm、面密度为0.6 kg/m²的镜子，以测量其形状校正性能并验证用于设计的有限元模型。低成本制造方案涉及低温处理步骤（低于140°C）以最小化残余应力，不需要精密光刻，因此可根据应用要求扩展到更大直径。
