Open-loop control of a MEMS deformable mirror for large-amplitude wavefront control

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Mechanical Engineering
• Materials Science

Background:

• MEMS deformable mirrors are crucial for adaptive optics.
• Precise control of mirror surface shape is essential for optical system performance.
• Existing methods for predicting control voltages can be computationally intensive.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a computationally efficient method for predicting control voltages for MEMS deformable mirrors.
• To achieve precise control over the surface shape of deformable mirrors.
• To enable the generation of prescribed surface shapes with high accuracy.

Main Methods:

• An analytical elastic model of the mirror membrane was employed.
• An empirical electromechanical model of the actuators was integrated.
• The combined model predicts control voltages for desired surface shapes.

Main Results:

• The method is computationally simple and inherently fast.
• Accurate surface shapes were achieved, even at the limit of spatial frequencies.
• Achieved amplitudes up to 1.5 micrometers with less than 15 nm root-mean-square error.

Conclusions:

• The developed method provides a fast and accurate way to control MEMS deformable mirror shapes.
• This technique is suitable for applications requiring precise optical surface control.
• The algorithm's efficiency makes it valuable for real-time adaptive optics systems.