Development of a commercial line of high-performance fast-steering mirrors

Albert Berta; Larry R. Hedding; Charlie Hoffman; Michael Messaros

doi:10.1117/12.351644

2 July 1999 Development of a commercial line of high-performance fast-steering mirrors

Albert Berta, Larry R. Hedding, Charlie Hoffman, Michael Messaros

Proceedings Volume 3787, Optical Scanning: Design and Application; (1999) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.351644
Event: SPIE's International Symposium on Optical Science, Engineering, and Instrumentation, 1999, Denver, CO, United States

Abstract

Fast-steering mirrors, called FSMs, for short, and sometimes referred to as fine-steering or tip-tilt mirrors, are primarily two-axis devices originally developed for a variety of demanding air and space applications for line-of- sight pointing and beam stabilization. Ball Aerospace has been engaged in the design and development of fast-steering mirrors since 1983. In 1994, Ball began employing lessons learned from these one-of-a-kind custom units to develop a commercial line of low cost (< $DLR50 K), high- performance mirrors to serve the general optics community. This paper first provides a brief overview of our overall FSM development history and some successful applications. Next, our commercial FSMs are described along with performance specifications and test results. Parameters of interest discussed include bandwidth, acceleration, accuracy, reliability, and types of mirror substrates. Test results on two models of commercial 3-in mirrors demonstrating accuracies of < 1 (mu) rad, life and reliability > 10⁸ cycles, and the ability to endure high-level random vibration are presented.

Citation Download Citation

Albert Berta, Larry R. Hedding, Charlie Hoffman, and Michael Messaros "Development of a commercial line of high-performance fast-steering mirrors", Proc. SPIE 3787, Optical Scanning: Design and Application, (2 July 1999); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.351644

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