Deformable Mirrors Correct Optical Distortions
In 1999, Boston Micromachines Corporation, a newly formed company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, received a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for space-based adaptive optical technology. The Phase I led to a Phase II SBIR with JPL and resulted in a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) DM called the Kilo-DM.
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00:00:01 [Music] countless wishes have been made on twinkling stars ironically that twinkle is one of the things that can get in the way of finding out what they really are light from stars is refracted through our atmosphere in different directions which causes the Stars image to change slightly in brightness and position and can make them difficult to see clearly
00:00:22 through [Music] telescopes a small company in Massachusetts is helping astronomers around the world overcome this challenge to see clearer pictures of deep space than ever before the firm's Micro electromechanical Systems are mim's deformable mirrors help telescopes compensate for the effects of our
00:00:41 atmosphere and correct from minor imperfections in the instruments and these mirrors have a number of small Pistons underneath them that can move the surface of the mirror up and down to change the shape to control the light that bounces off of them and through the NASA spr programs there's been developments in both the new kind kinds of mirrors um and the production of new
00:01:02 types of mirrors for specific applications and also some new manufacturing technology through research and development funded by small business Innovation research or sbir contracts from NASA's jet propulsion laboratory Boston micr machines devised a new manufacturing process that produces Ultra flat mirror surfaces through another SBI award from JPL The
00:01:24 Firm also improved the drive controllers that enable the devices to quickly correct for aberration NASA is planning to take advantage of these technology advancements to gather images of planets that orbit stars in distant galaxies Imaging those planets directly would help scientists discover the nature of our own planetary system but doing that requires some of the most sensitive
00:01:44 instruments ever flown in space researchers at Nasa jpl's high contrast and imaging test bed are using sbir and derived technology from Boston Micro Machines as part of a new Imaging approach that could enable a space-based telescope to see a distant planet that is 10 billion times fainter than its Central Star Paul Bearden sees mim's deformable mirrors as serving a critical
00:02:05 need for that approach they have all the space qualities that you'd like they're lightweight they're extremely low power um they have almost no Mass so they have strength for vibration they can operate in vacuum so all of these things that are just inherent in the mems process work really well into what NASA needs for space space missions mim's deformable mirrors from the company are
00:02:29 being used in space observatories around the world and the cost-effective manufacturing techniques derived from the NASA sbir funded work mean that you may soon find Advanced Adaptive Optics technology at your local Eye Clinic the national Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health recently awarded an SBI contract to Boston Micro Machines to develop an instrument that takes
00:02:50 advantage of mim's deformable mirrors to give doctors a clearer and more detailed look inside patients eyes this would enable early detection of eye diseases such as glaucoma diabetic retinopathy and age related macular degeneration it's a significant Innovation that's bringing a twinkle to the eyes of researchers doctors and [Music]
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