Characterization of laser thermal loading on microelectromechanical systems-based fast steering mirror in vacuum
© The Authors. Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have produced high-quality, high-bandwidth, small form factor, and inexpensive fast steering mirror (FSM) devices potentially suitable for a large variety of applications, such as image stabilization and beam pointing in satellite-based and ground...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SPIE-Intl Soc Optical Eng
2021
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/135212 |
| _version_ | 1826199467607457792 |
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| author | do Vale Pereira, Paula Hunwardsen, Matthew T Cahoy, Kerri |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics do Vale Pereira, Paula Hunwardsen, Matthew T Cahoy, Kerri |
| author_sort | do Vale Pereira, Paula |
| collection | MIT |
| description | © The Authors. Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have produced high-quality, high-bandwidth, small form factor, and inexpensive fast steering mirror (FSM) devices potentially suitable for a large variety of applications, such as image stabilization and beam pointing in satellite-based and ground-based, free-space optical communication systems. However, one outstanding question for this application is power handling. The absorption of the mirror substrate is low, but non-negligible, so the question remains of whether thermal loading from laser radiation on a MEMS mirror will deform its surface and, if so, to what extent. We show experimental results of optical performance changes due to thermal loading for MEMS two-axis FSM devices from Mirrorcle Technologies, Inc. Results and reproducible behavior are reported and compared in ambient versus vacuum conditions, where the benefits of convective cooling are absent. Finite element analyses corroborate the experimental results and show that the mirror substrate can deform due to thermal expansion imbalances. The deformation changes the focusing characteristics of the mirror, with a peak to valley defocus (second-order Zernike mode) of up to 50 nm when the mirrors are tested in ambient and up to approximately 450 nm when under vacuum. Such defocusing negatively impacts the link budget for laser-based satellite communications. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:20:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/135212 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:20:42Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | SPIE-Intl Soc Optical Eng |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1352122023-03-01T14:49:29Z Characterization of laser thermal loading on microelectromechanical systems-based fast steering mirror in vacuum do Vale Pereira, Paula Hunwardsen, Matthew T Cahoy, Kerri Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics Space Telecommunications Astronomy and Radiation (STAR) Lab © The Authors. Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have produced high-quality, high-bandwidth, small form factor, and inexpensive fast steering mirror (FSM) devices potentially suitable for a large variety of applications, such as image stabilization and beam pointing in satellite-based and ground-based, free-space optical communication systems. However, one outstanding question for this application is power handling. The absorption of the mirror substrate is low, but non-negligible, so the question remains of whether thermal loading from laser radiation on a MEMS mirror will deform its surface and, if so, to what extent. We show experimental results of optical performance changes due to thermal loading for MEMS two-axis FSM devices from Mirrorcle Technologies, Inc. Results and reproducible behavior are reported and compared in ambient versus vacuum conditions, where the benefits of convective cooling are absent. Finite element analyses corroborate the experimental results and show that the mirror substrate can deform due to thermal expansion imbalances. The deformation changes the focusing characteristics of the mirror, with a peak to valley defocus (second-order Zernike mode) of up to 50 nm when the mirrors are tested in ambient and up to approximately 450 nm when under vacuum. Such defocusing negatively impacts the link budget for laser-based satellite communications. 2021-10-27T20:22:30Z 2021-10-27T20:22:30Z 2020 2021-04-08T16:52:35Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/135212 en 10.1117/1.OE.59.5.056109 Optical Engineering Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ application/pdf SPIE-Intl Soc Optical Eng SPIE |
| spellingShingle | do Vale Pereira, Paula Hunwardsen, Matthew T Cahoy, Kerri Characterization of laser thermal loading on microelectromechanical systems-based fast steering mirror in vacuum |
| title | Characterization of laser thermal loading on microelectromechanical systems-based fast steering mirror in vacuum |
| title_full | Characterization of laser thermal loading on microelectromechanical systems-based fast steering mirror in vacuum |
| title_fullStr | Characterization of laser thermal loading on microelectromechanical systems-based fast steering mirror in vacuum |
| title_full_unstemmed | Characterization of laser thermal loading on microelectromechanical systems-based fast steering mirror in vacuum |
| title_short | Characterization of laser thermal loading on microelectromechanical systems-based fast steering mirror in vacuum |
| title_sort | characterization of laser thermal loading on microelectromechanical systems based fast steering mirror in vacuum |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/135212 |
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