Environmental testing of high-actuator-count MEMS deformable mirrors for space-based applications

Camilo M. Prada; Duncan Liu; Garreth Ruane; Hong Tang; Axel Potier; Paul Bierden; Charlie Lam

doi:10.1117/12.2594263

1 September 2021 Environmental testing of high-actuator-count MEMS deformable mirrors for space-based applications

Camilo M. Prada, Duncan Liu, Garreth Ruane, Hong Tang, Axel Potier, Paul Bierden, Charlie Lam

Proceedings Volume 11823, Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets X; 118230M (2021) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2594263
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2021, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Coronagraph instruments on future space telescopes will rely on deformable mirrors to create high contrast images for the direct detection of exoplanets. As part of the NASA Exoplanet Explorations Program’s coronagraph technology development efforts, two sets of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) deformable mirrors manufactured by Boston Micromachines Corporation were exposed to vibration and thermal cycles representative of launch conditions. The first set of mirrors were 952-actuator Kilo-DMs that successfully demonstrated 100% actuator survival and achieved ~1e- 8 contrast after the environmental test. The second round used an engineering-grade 2048-actuator deformable mirror on which few changes were identified after the environmental test. However, each actuator that changed behavior was flagged as anomalous beforehand or was directly adjacent to a defective actuator. From this result, we hypothesized that typical actuators on a science grade deformable mirror are robust to environmental testing. A third set of 2048-actuator deformable mirrors have been procured for a planned test to characterize the deformable mirrors using interferometric measurements, contrast results on a new in-air coronagraph testbed, and infrared microscopy on the internal structure of the MEMS devices.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Camilo M. Prada, Duncan Liu, Garreth Ruane, Hong Tang, Axel Potier, Paul Bierden, and Charlie Lam "Environmental testing of high-actuator-count MEMS deformable mirrors for space-based applications", Proc. SPIE 11823, Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets X, 118230M (1 September 2021); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2594263

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