Development of key adaptive mirror technologies for the European Extremely Large Telescope (ELT)

我们建议建立一个大型变形镜子的“概念验证”部分。我们将展示现有技术的组合，加上一些发展，可以解决目前大型自适应镜像技术面临的关键问题。我们将展示我们的镜像部分将可扩展到为欧洲英语教学构建大型自适应镜像所需的技术，并具有代表性。我们建议优化柔顺形式的碳化硅的材料参数，以用作镜面的结构支撑。我们将开发一种新的技术，通过选择性地构建二氧化硅层来将顺应性碳化硅表面制备为自适应镜壳，从而将达到光学处方所需的时间降至最低。我们将展示可以对压电陶瓷(PZT)致动器进行改装以解决迟滞问题，并且低功耗和固有刚性的结合使该器件成为大变形反射镜的理想候选者。

We propose to build a 'proof of concept' portion of a large deformable mirror. We will demonstrate that a combination of already available technologies, with some development, can address key problems currently facing large adaptive mirror technologies. We will show that our mirror portion will be scalable to, and representative of the technology required to build a large adaptive mirror for the European ELT. We propose optimising the material parameters of a compliant form of silicon carbide for use as a structural support for a mirror surface. We will develop a novel technique of preparing the surface of the compliant silicon carbide as an adaptive mirror shell by selectively building up a silicon dioxide layer in such a way as to minimise the time required to reach the optical prescription. We will show that a piezo ceramic (PZT) actuator can be modified to address hysteresis and that the combination of low power consumption and inherent stiffness make the device an ideal candidate for large deformable mirrors.