Deformable Mirrors (DMs) are at the heart of any adaptive optics system. State-of-the-art, high-actuator count DMs suffer from external heavy and bulky electronics in which electrical connections are made through thousands of wires. To overcome this challenge, we are developing Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC) capable of driving a DM in a single small package in space conditions. This integrated ASIC-DM is ideal for space missions, where it offers significant reduction in mass, power and complexity while maintaining performance compatible with high-contrast imaging of exoplanets. We successfully prototyped, package and tested a 16x16 DM-ASIC array following the Roman Space Telescope mission requirements. The ASIC chip was irradiated to a total ionizing dose equivalent to a six-year mission in L2 orbit and tested at the Roman coronagraph specific temperature range.
Deformable mirrors are at the heart of any adaptive optics system. We present the results of tests of deformable mirrors from Microscale. One of the key innovations of these deformable mirrors is that the facesheet is created from a silicon on insulator (SOI) wafer with integral posts for mechanical linkage to the actuators. This dramat- ically reduces the variability of the influence function. The facesheet is bonded to an array of piezoelectric stack actuators. The actuators are currently PZT, but single crystal PMN actuators are being developed. We present results of optical and electrical tests of the performance of the DM.
The development of compact, high performance Deformable Mirrors (DMs) is one of the most important technological challenges for high-contrast imaging on space missions. Microscale Inc. has fabricated and characterized piezoelectric stack actuator deformable mirrors (PZT-DMs) and Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) drivers for direct integration. The DM-ASIC system is designed to eliminate almost all cables, enabling a very compact optical system with low mass and low power consumption. We report on the optical tests used to evaluate the performance of the DM and ASIC units. We also compare the results to the requirements for space-based high-contrast imaging of exoplanets.
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