Characterization of a bimorph deformable mirror using stroboscopic phase-shifting interferometry.

The static and dynamic characteristics of a bimorph deformable mirror (DM) for use in an adaptive optics system are described. The DM is a 35-actuator device composed of two disks of lead magnesium niobate (PMN), an electrostrictive ceramic that produces a mechanical strain in response to an imposed electric field. A custom stroboscopic phase-shifting interferometer was developed to measure the deformation of the mirror in response to applied voltage. The ability of the mirror to replicate optical aberrations described by the Zernike polynomials was tested as a measure of the mirror's static performance. The natural frequencies of the DM were measured up to 20 kHz using both stroboscopic interferometry as well as a commercial laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV). Interferometric measurements of the DM surface profile were analyzed by fitting the surface with mode-shapes predicted using classical plate theory for an elastically supported disk. The measured natural frequencies were found to be in good agreement with the predictions of the theoretical model.