Manufacturing and testing a thin glass mirror shell with piezoelectric active control

TL;DR

This paper presents the development and initial testing of a thin glass X-ray mirror shell with integrated piezoelectric actuators for active shape correction, aiming to enhance optical performance for future space telescopes.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method of integrating commercial piezoelectric patches with thin glass mirrors, including manufacturing and initial X-ray testing, for active deformation correction.

Findings

Successful manufacturing of a prototype active mirror

Initial X-ray tests demonstrate potential for shape correction

Feasibility of integrating piezoelectric actuators with thin glass

Abstract

Optics for future X-ray telescopes will be characterized by very large aperture and focal length, and will be made of lightweight materials like glass or silicon in order to keep the total mass within acceptable limits. Optical modules based on thin slumped glass foils are being developed at various institutes, aiming at improving the angular resolution to a few arcsec HEW. Thin mirrors are prone to deform, so they require a careful integration to avoid deformations and even correct forming errors. On the other hand, this offers the opportunity to actively correct the residual deformation: a viable possibility to improve the mirror figure is the application of piezoelectric actuators onto the non-optical side of the mirrors, and several groups are already at work on this approach. The concept we are developing consists of actively integrating thin glass foils with piezoelectric patches, fed by voltages driven by the feedback provided by X-rays. The actuators are commercial components, while the tension signals are carried by a printed circuit obtained by photolithography, and the driving electronic is a multi-channel low power consumption voltage supply developed in-house. Finally, the shape detection and the consequent voltage signal to be provided to the piezoelectric array are determined in X-rays, in intra-focal setup at the XACT facility at INAF/OAPA. In this work, we describe the manufacturing steps to obtain a first active mirror prototype and the very first test performed in X-rays.