Novel unimorph adaptive mirrors for astronomy applications

摘要

We have developed a new type of unimorph deformable mirror for the correction of low-order Zernike modes. Themirror features a clear aperture of 50 mm combined with large peak-to-valley amplitudes of up to 35 μm. Newlydeveloped fabrication processes allow the use of prefabricated, coated, super-polished glass substrates. The mirror'sunique features suggest the use in several astronomical applications like the compensation of atmospheric aberrationsseen by laser beacons and the use in woofer-tweeter systems. Additionally, the design enables an efficient correction ofthe inevitable wave-front error imposed by the floppy structure of primary mirrors in future large space telescopes. Wehave modeled the mirror by using analytical as well as finite element models. We will present design, key features andmanufacturing steps of the deformable mirror.© (2012) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.