Simulational and experimental investigation on the actuator-corresponding high-frequency aberration of the piezoelectric stacked array deformable mirror

Abstract

The high-frequency aberrations (HIFAs) that are corresponding to the actuator array have been reported to exist on the initial surface shape of many deformable mirrors (DMs), such as the bimorph DM, the unimorph DM, the monomorph DM, and the membrane DM. This actuator-corresponding high-frequency aberration (AC-HIFA) could not be corrected effectively by the DM and would limit the correction ability of the DM. In this paper, we presented the AC-HIFA in a stacked array piezoelectric (PZT) DM, which may result in ghost damage that is dangerous in the high power laser system. More importantly, we investigated a solution through simulation and experiment that by using a mirror plate and a long thin post array, which were machined integrally from a piece of BK7 glass, the AC-HIFA could be eliminated completely. In addition, the structural parameters' influences on the AC-HIFA were investigated in the simulation, which could help other researchers to determine appropriate parameters of the mirror and the posts and to make a fine surface shape in their own DMs.