Better position control with new deformable mirror controller

When performing microscopy, optical aberrations can arise from a mismatch of the refractive index of the immersion medium and the sample or from refractive index variations within the sample. Such aberrations can lessen the image quality. Adaptive optics systems can correct for these aberrations. Such a system measures distortions in a wave front and compensates for them with a spatial phase modulator such as a deformable mirror.

Boston Micromachines Corp. makes deformable mirror systems for use in adaptive optics, and now the company has announced a new high speed, high precision controller for its Mini-DM (deformable mirror). The controller comes in a package five times smaller than the previous version, and it achieves position control with14 bit resolution at a >8 kHz frame rate.

The Mini-DM can be used for laser beam shaping in proof-of-concept experiments and in microscopes and ophthalmic instruments. The wavefront control device consists of a mirror membrane supported by an underlying actuator array. Each actuator can be individually deflected by electrostatic actuation to achieve the desired pattern of deformation.