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Published on: February 12, 2013
Monolithic trifold flexure aluminum mirror optimized through the response surface method for wide field of view
Abstract:
We developed a monolithic trifold flexure aluminum mirror specifically intended for wide field of view camera applications. Unlike previous studies, this work uniquely optimizes the trifold flexure design to simultaneously minimize alignment-induced stress and maintain optical alignment in linear astigmatism-free off-axis reflective systems. The response surface method identifies the optimal trifold flexure design that alleviates the root mean square (RMS) surface error from 0.183 to 0.091 µm in simulation. On-axis interferometric measurements of the manufactured mirror with and without the flexure verify that the optimized trifold flexure reduces the RMS surface error from 0.062 to 0.014 µm.
