Demonstration Of A Robust Composite Deformable Secondary Mirror With Low Surface Error

Details Demonstration Of A Robust Composite Deformable Secondary Mirror With Low Surface Error Demonstration Of A Robust Composite Deformable Secondary Mirror With Low Surface Error

Jan 2011

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011aas...21741306a&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #217, #413.06; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, 2011

Physics

Optics

Scientific paper

I discuss recent improvements in the development of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) as a lightweight substrate for primary and deformable secondary mirrors on ground- and space-based telescopes. Weight reductions for ground-based primary mirrors can significantly affect cost: The weight and material cost of a large ground-based telescope go roughly as the primary mirror mass. CFRP composites provide several advantages as a substrate for thin-shell adaptive secondary mirrors as well, including high stiffness-to-weight ratio, low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), and robustness.
We use an 8 cm prototype CFRP thin-shell deformable mirror to show that spatial CTE variation may be addressed with mounted actuators. I present measurements of surface quality at a range of temperatures characteristic of mountaintop observatories. The figure error of the Al-coated reflective surface under best actuator correction is 43 nm RMS, placing it into consideration for use in near-IR astronomy. The low surface error internal to the outer ring of actuators (17 nm RMS at 15 C and 33 nm RMS at -5 C) suggests that larger mirrors will have a similar figure quality under actuator correction on ground-based Adaptive Optics systems. Surface roughness is low (< 3 nm P-V) at a variety of temperatures. These experiments demonstrate CFRP's potential as a lightweight, robust substrate for thin-shell deformable secondary mirrors.

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