Deformable Mirrors (DMs) are key components in Adaptive Optics (AO) systems employed in astronomy and laser communications to compensate for shape errors in optical elements and optical atmospheric disturbance, as well as for defense applications using high-powered lasers. Until now, deformable mirrors have suffered from inefficient and/or low-reliability actuators, with an inability to service system components. TNO has developed a Hybrid-Variable-Reluctance (HVR) DM technology which is reliable, serviceable, durable, scalable, modular, accurate, efficient and powerful.

Types ofdeformable mirrors

Latest HVR Actuator – DM16. Performance specs: Linear force range >30N PV; Displacement range >30µm PV- (up to 100µm PV, TBC); Internal resonance >2kHz; Efficiency; 60N/√W.

In early 2024, TNO with its development partners listed below delivered an Adaptive Secondary Mirror (ASM) for the NASA-IRTF Telescope in Hawaii. The project went from design concept to delivered hardware in under a year, and the DM “closed the loop” in the first hour of operation on the telescope.

TNO focusses on development, prototyping and performance testing. We have worked with the following development partners on the Hybrid-Variable-Reluctance (HVR) DMs:

MEMSdeformablemirror

The key ingredient to TNO’s Hybrid-Variable-Reluctance (HVR) DM technology is the actuation principle, which generally has the following qualities:

Deformable mirrorsfor sale

Adaptive optics systems utilize optical signals, such as from laser guide stars, to measure atmospheric optical disturbance for ground-based telescopes. Deformable Mirrors (DMs) are used in a closed-loop with these signals to compensate for this disturbance for both astronomy and laser satellite communications, to correct the vision of the systems in real time and improve optical throughput. Within the context of space-based astronomical programs, AO systems are also key to achieving high-contrast imaging capabilities (e.g. exoplanet science) and compensate imperfections of the optics due to manufacturing flaws, misalignments, gravitational release and stress during launching and deploying phases.

This document provides an overview of coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS). It begins with an introduction to CARS and its history. The theoretical background of CARS is then explained, including the basics of Rayleigh and Raman scattering. The document outlines the CARS process, advantages and limitations of CARS, and applications. It concludes with a summary of the key points regarding CARS spectroscopy.Read less

Deformable Mirror DM2 used in OFELIA Laser Communications Breadboard – proved that beam-shaping (atmospheric pre-correction) can significantly improve signal quality through atmospheric turbulence.

The first TNO-HVR DM was built for ESA around 2017, to prove the principle of use of adaptive optics in space for optical corrections. Since that time several laboratory DMs have been built and proven.

In late 2024, TNO is planning to deliver an ASM for the UH88 (2.2 meter) telescope in Hawaii. This ASM is 620 mm in diameter and has 210 actuators. One of the key developments at this scale was developing a low-cost manufacturing method for accurate thin-shell glass mirrors, called heat-slumping or capture-range-replication, which can produce mirrors at a fraction of the cost of traditional grinding and polishing.