Magnetic smart materials (MSMs) offer an alternative to the typical piezo-electric actuators that are currently being used to control X-ray optics on beam lines. MSMs combined with an overcoating of a magnetic hard material means a deformable mirror whose non-reflecting side is coated with a MSM plus magnetic hard overcoat can work in a power-off mode. The process works by using an electromagnet (EM) to impose a magnetic field in the bilayer of MSM and magnetic hard overcoat. Once the EM is turned off, the mirror settles to a new shape within minutes. The new shape can then remain intact for days. Since the EM is not fixed to the mirror, the exact placement of the magnetic field can be adjusted by relocating the EM. This feature allows for fine-scale adjustments and avoids the “dead pixel” replacement problem common with piezo patches that are attached to the mirror. We will give an overview and a progress report.
KEYWORDS: Shape memory alloys, Magnetism, Smart materials, Space telescopes, Space mirrors, Mirrors, New and emerging technologies, Specular reflections, Surface finishing
The desirability of making deployable mirrors for space telescopes has been known for years. Yet, once the wave lengths are longer than the short wave radio, progress has been slow. Therefore, we are exploring a new technology based on using a magnetic smart material film deposited on a shape-memory alloy (SMA) sheet. Our preliminary result is that when we apply an about 0.1-0.35 T in-plane magnetic field, we can produce greater than micron deflections in the SMA. Furthermore, we have shown the SMA can return to shape to within 1 micron. We will present an update on how long these deflections can be maintained and our progress toward making the SMA surface smooth enough to produce specular reflection. In addition, we assess the brightness and shininess of the NiTi piece before and after heating that is needed to produce a return to shape.
Larger mirrors are needed to satisfy the requirements of the next generation of UV–Vis space telescopes. Our study attempts to meet this requirement by demonstrating a technology that would deploy a large, continuous, high figure accuracy membrane mirror. The figure of the membrane mirror is corrected after deployment using a contiguous coating of a magnetic smart material (MSM) and a magnetic field. The MSM is a magnetostrictive material that is operable by magnetic write head(s), locally imposed on the nonreflective side of the membrane mirror. We report preparation, figure accuracy, stress analysis, and stability of the MSM coated CP1 polyimide substrate membrane mirror. The figure accuracy and magnetostrictive performance of the MSM coated membrane mirror are measured; furthermore, stability of the CP1 membrane for 48 h is observed and the results are found to be promising. In addition to membrane coating and the experimental procedure, the results of the surface profiling experiments are introduced and discussed.
Thin-walled X-ray optics are going to be required to meet the demands of large collecting area versus volume and mass for the next generation X-ray astronomy Flagship Mission. We report here our progress on our concept of meeting the challenge of producing these mirrors. The case we address is the one where the initial fabrication process requires post-fabrication figure correction. Our technology can be applied prior to launch and also enable in-flight figure corrections. Our process is to coat a film of magnetic smart material onto the backside of the thin-walled X-ray mirrors. Then, an electromagnet is used to produce an in-plane stress and thus reshape the mirror. We show in this paper that 500 μm thick Si wafers can be coated and after coating remains significantly flat, i.e. they have a radius of curvature of about 30 m. We have carried out deflection measurements as a function of the external magnetic field of about 0.1 to 0.3 T and found a nearly linear relationship. We also revisited the stability of induced deflections for up to nearly 70 hours and also demonstrated that the process can produce deflections for fine-scale figure adjustments of order (10 nm) range deflections.
The only way to increase the sensitivity of X-ray telescopes without significantly increasing their size (compared to existing telescopes) is to use thinner mirror shells. However, to maintain the figure of thin mirror shells, their shape will need to be adjusted after they are mounted and/or actively controlled during flight. Here we describe progress toward developing a method that can be used to do both. The core of the concept is to coat thin (<500 μm) X-ray mirrors with a ~10 μm layer of magnetic smart material (MSM). When an external magnetic field is applied to the MSM layer it will expand or contract, changing the shape of the mirror. We have previously demonstrated that this method can be used to generate a single localized deformation on the surface of a test sample. Here we present work to study how two deformations affect each other. The first deformation that we created has a height of ~5 μm. The second deformation, generated by applying a magnetic field to the sample 4 mm from the first position, has a height of ~1 μm. It is likely that the second deformation is smaller than the first because the two areas where the magnetic field was applied were close to each other. This could have caused the MSM to already be partially expanded in the second area when the field was applied there.
Larger mirrors are needed to satisfy the requirements of the next generation of UV-Vis space telescopes. Our NASA-NIAC funded project, titled A Precise Extremely large Reflective Telescope Using Reconfigurable Elements (APERTURE), attempts to meet this requirement. The aim of the project is to demonstrate technology that would deploy a large, continuous, high figure accuracy membrane mirror. The figure of the membrane mirror is corrected after deployment using a contiguous coating of a Magnetic Smart Material (MSM) and a magnetic field. The MSM is a magnetostrictive material which is driven by magnetic write head(s) (MWH), locally imposed on the non-reflective side of the membrane mirror. In this proceeding we report the figure accuracy of the MSM coated membrane mirror under various conditions using a Shack-Hartmann surface profiler. The figure accuracy and magnetostrictive performance of the membrane mirror is found to be significantly dependent on ambient temperature fluctuations, the tension load on the membrane, time, magnetic writing head orientation and magnetic field strength. The results and reproducibility of the surface profiling experiments under various conditions are introduced and discussed.
KEYWORDS: Mirrors, Magnetism, Space telescopes, Reflectivity, Reflector telescopes, Telescopes, Smart materials, Active optics, Optical calibration, James Webb Space Telescope
One of the pressing needs for the UV-Vis is an affordable design that allows larger mirrors than the JWST primary. In this publication we report the results of the first year of a NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Phase II study. Our project is called A Precise Extremely large Reflective Telescope Using Reconfigurable Elements (APERTURE). The concept is to deploy a continuous membrane-like mirror. The mirror figure will be corrected after deployment, causing the figure error to decrease below λ/20. While the basic concept is not new, our innovation lies in a different approach to correcting the residual figure errors from the classical piezoelectricpatch technology. Instead, our concept is based on a contiguous coating of a magnetic smart material (MSM). After deployment, a magnetic write head will move along the non-reflecting side of the mirror. The magnetic field will produce a stress in the MSM which then corrects the mirror shape. This publication summarizes the results of minimizing the MSM deposition stress as well as the size and stability of the deformation, which is maintained by a magnetically hard material.
We describe our progress in developing a method for correcting residual figure errors in X-ray mirrors. The technology has applications to both synchrotron radiation beamlines and X-ray astronomy. Our concept is to develop mirrors that are on the order of a millimeter thick. A magnetic smart material (MSM) is deposited onto the mirror substrate (silicon) and coated with a magnetically hard material. The shape of the mirror can be controlled by applying an external magnetic field to the mirror. This causes the MSM to expand or contract, thereby applying a magnetostrictive stress to the mirror and changing its shape. The shape change is maintained after the field has been removed by the magnetic hard material, which retains part of the field and prevents the MSM from relaxing. Here we present the results of shaping 200 µm thick silicon (100) 14 × 2 mm cantilevers and 50 × 50 × 0.1 mm substrates. We demonstrate that not only can a sizable deflection be created, but it can also be retained for ∼ 60 hours.
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