 |
 |
CILAS monomorph deformable mirrors for Laser, Astronomy and Space applications | |
11 May 2017
For 30 years, CILAS deformable mirrors and the most advanced generation called “monomorph” demonstrated their powerful ability to optimize focusing of laser beams and to improve the resolution of the largest astronomical ground-based telescopes. The specific product range dedicated to high power laser facilities covers pupil diameters ranging from 30 mm to 250 mm with excellent optical quality (10 nm rms wavefront) and high reflective coatings meeting laser damage requirements. The extremely low power consumption (a few μW worst case) and the absence of internal heat dissipation allows to operate the mirror during the laser shots while keeping a very high open-loop shape stability and an ability to adapt immediately its correction to any drift of the laser chain: as a result, a perfect focusing of the laser beam! The product range proposed for astronomical ground-based telescopes are specifically designed to correct the atmospheric turbulences with bandwidth of 1 kHz or more. A wide range of design is proposed, with number of electrodes ranging from few tens to few hundreds and inter-electrode strokes around 1 µm PtV typical. After having demonstrated for years their powerful ability to optimize the image resolution of the largest astronomical telescopes, these mirrors are now identified as a key component for free space optical communications! Finally, the most recent product range based on the monomorph technology concerns spaceborne components: because the race for very large Earth observation instruments requires now in-flight correction of the telescope deformations, the monomoph mirrors now become a key disruptive technology for making these programs realistic and relevant. Thanks to its ability to adapt immediately its shape, the monomorph mirror can compensate the optical defects of the telescope even along the orbital cycle. It allows harnessing the full-performances of the instrument while reducing the global cost and schedule of the programs: it relaxes the level of requirements to design the telescope, it simplifies the integration and testing of the instrument, and finally it allows volume and mass saving at the satellite level which substantially reduces the cost of the launch. The strong heritage of the monomorph technology on ground facilities, its lightweight and its unfailing reliability with no moving actuators or heat generators become strong and essential points for the new generation of spaceborne instrumentation! More information available at: https://www.cilas.com/en/adaptive-mirrors CILAS |
| © 2024 SPIE Europe |
|
