Lightweight Active Nanolaminate Mirror with Wireless Shape Control

For future NASA Cosmic Journey missions to study the Structure and Evolution of the Universe, telescope mirror apertures from 10 to 100m are desired. To achieve the large apertures, standard telescope designs containing heavy optical components that are time consuming and expensive to fabricate are obsolete. The current thrust is the use of polymer membranes and PVDF piezoelectric films that offer the potential to build mirrors in excess of 10m with areal densities below 1-kg/m2. However, these programs offer a challenge to design, materials and optical engineers to achieve a mirror that holds the optical surface within the required tolerances. The membrane approach is subject to thermally induced distortions, does not provide the necessary in-plane stiffness to mitigate distortions, and still requires wires/cables for actuator addressing. Xinetics proposes the Lightweight Active Nanolaminate Mirror with E-beam Shape Control. The thick-film nanolaminate has a greater in-plane stiffness than the polymer membranes and thus can maintain greater optical tolerances. The active discrete actuator laminate will be driven by an e-beam flux; thus making it wireless. This technology will enable a new class of optical structures for space that are lightweight, dimensionally stable, resistant to space environmental effects, inexpensive and rapidly manufactured.