Novel hierarchically dimensioned deformable mirrors with integrated ASIC driver electronics

We report on an effort of building a new form of deformable mirror (DM) driven by an array of giant piezo microactuators and being integrated with an ASIC driver electronics. The actuator layer is obtained by bonding a thin Si wafer with a thin PMN-PT crystal substrate, and is in attachment with a bulk-micromachined mirror hierarchy comprising of a supporting Si layer as the spacer, a Si post layer as the motion sampler, and atop of which a Si micromembrane layer as the deformable mirror. The ASIC employs a charge controlled approach to actuate the large capacitance (similar to nF) in associating with the high-energy-density actuators, capable of charging/discharging an array from quasi-static to 20 kHz framing rate, and with ultra-low-power dissipation that approximates the theoretical minimum of a driver electronics. The DM to ASIC integration is currently accomplished at chip level. An integrated DM prototype has 32x32 actuator elements at 600um pitch, weighing similar to 50 grams, as compact as similar to 1 cubic inch, and uses 25 wires to access the 1024 actuators. Fundamental characterizations of a few ASIC drivers are also presented.