Deep Stroke Micro-Electro-Mechanical, (MEM), Actuator for High-Speed Adaptive Rates

This project will demonstrate the key technology, namely high speed deep stroke actuator, required for a low cost adaptive-optic system capable of providing sharp images of extended objects from large, ground or aircraft based telescopes. Adaptive optical systems are used on large earth-based telescopes to measure and compensate for rapidly fluctuating wavefront distortions caused by the turbulent atmosphere. All operational systems to date have made use of large mechanical actuators. These systems are, costly, low bandwidth and can only provide correction for narrow field of view, i.e. one isoplanatic patch. These systems are incapable of providing sharp images of extended objects. SY Technology, Inc. proposes to demonstrate a new concept in MEM microactuators which possesses the required properties of high bandwidth, deep stroke and low cost, (<$1000 dollars). These features make practical two new concepts in applying adaptive optics to imaging extended objects. In the first concept the high speed of the MEMs mirrors, make possible scanning and correcting the extended object image one isoplanatic patch at a time. In the second concept the low cost of the MEMs mirrors make possible systems using multiple mirrors each correcting a different layer of the atmosphere. Both concepts require deep stroke actuators.