A low-steering piezo-driven mirror

Development of a Low-Cost Fine Steering Mirror

The Space Dynamics Laboratory has used internal funds to develop a prototype low-cost two-axis fine steering mirror (FSM) for space-based and airborne applications. The FSM has a lightweight 75 mm-by150-mm high-reflectance mirror, high angular deflection capability for along-track ground motion compensation and cross-track pointing, and a 70-Hertz bandwidth for small amplitudes to help cancel u...

Piezo-driven metrological multiaxis nanopositioner

We report on the development of a metrological multiaxis nanopositioning device, which is operated by the piezo-based inertial method, as a sample stage for scanning probe microscopy. It has long moving range, unlimited in principle, and nanometer ~microradian! resolution. Two operation methods, inertial sliding and inertial walking, can be applied to the stage and the inertial operating method...

Air entrapment in piezo-driven inkjet printheads

The stability of inkjet printers is a major requirement for high-quality-printing. However, in piezo-driven inkjet printheads, air entrapment can lead to malfunctioning of the jet formation. The piezoactuator is employed to actively monitor the channel acoustics and to identify distortions at an early stage. Modifications of the response of the piezoactuator indicate entrapped air bubbles and t...

High Speed Piezo Steering Mirrors 6-Axis Optical Alignment Platforms Standard High Speed Tip/Tilt Platforms Piezo-Driven, Frictionless Flexure Guides, Parallel Kinematic Designs

Lightweight Mirror Structures for Mechanical Beam Steering

Defense applications ofspace-borne laser radar require a sensor that can point to a large number of targets in rapid succession and over a wide field of regard. By using a fullaperture, mechanically steered flat mirror, the requirements for high-acceleration beam steering can be met. Three alternative mirror structures were designed and their perfonnance was evaluated through computer simulatio...