MEMS deformable mirror technology has recently evolved from a specialized wavefront control device to a low cost and high performance product. To facilitate adoption of this emerging technology, this research seeks to investigate: 1) the actual wavefront correcting capabilities of the different MEMS deformable mirror designs, and 2) how to design optical systems to effectively utilize this new technology. A high fidelity finite element model and a fast approximating model of a MEMS deformable mirror are described. Integrated design approaches using both models are compared, which combine the models with commercial optical design software. Defocus case studies are presented and results discussed.
International Journal of Optomechatronics, 2(2), June 2008, pp. 104-125.