MEMS practice, from the lab to the telescope

TL;DR

This paper reviews a decade of MEMS technology application in astronomical adaptive optics, highlighting lab characterization, on-sky wavefront correction, and demonstrating its maturity for telescope use.

Contribution

It provides practical insights and performance evaluations of MEMS deformable mirrors in both laboratory and real telescope environments, showcasing their readiness for astronomical AO systems.

Findings

Successful on-sky wavefront correction with MEMS DMs

Demonstrated open-loop control in visible light

Validated MEMS technology for large-scale astronomical AO

Abstract

Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technology can provide for deformable mirrors (DMs) with excellent performance within a favorable economy of scale. Large MEMS-based astronomical adaptive optics (AO) systems such as the Gemini Planet Imager are coming on-line soon. As MEMS DM end-users, we discuss our decade of practice with the micromirrors, from inspecting and characterizing devices to evaluating their performance in the lab. We also show MEMS wavefront correction on-sky with the "Villages" AO system on a 1-m telescope, including open-loop control and visible-light imaging. Our work demonstrates the maturity of MEMS technology for astronomical adaptive optics.